Tough On The Top

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While radicals responsible for the deadly train bombings in Madrid and London chose anonymous commuters as victims, jihadists in the Netherlands appear bent on killing vips. Last week, police there arrested seven Dutch nationals of Moroccan origin in four cities and sealed off government buildings in the Hague in response to what Dutch Interior Minister Johan Remkes described as an "acute terrorism threat."

Security officials said they'd obtained evidence that Islamist extremists were planning assaults on politicians and government facilities. Among those held was 19-year-old Samir Azzouz, whom officials accuse of trying to buy automatic weapons and explosives for the alleged plot. Last April, Azzouz was acquitted of terrorism charges because of a lack of evidence, but was convicted of related offenses of illegal possession of guns and explosives. Police think the suspects may be related to Amsterdam's Hofstad Group, which Remkes says is "increasing in size" and has become more "autonomous." Formed in 2002, the Hofstad group is accused of organizing the Nov. 2, 2004, murder of filmmaker and critic of Islam, Theo van Gogh-13 members will face terror charges related to that case. In 2004, other alleged Hofstad members were deported from Portugal to Holland on evidence they were plotting to assassinate then-Prime Minister and current European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso.

French terror expert Roland Jacquard warns that targeting prominent local or national figures isn't a tactic limited to Dutch radicals. "Jihadist terror literature has begun stressing the sensational, destabilizing effectiveness of assassinating key officials, and it's become almost common in Iraq," says Jacquard. He notes that suspects arrested in France last month were considering killing two French political leaders and a former Moroccan security official now retired in Paris. "They are diversifying their killing techniques, not clipping them back," says Jacquard.