Suspect passed through Dutch airport

Luggage is transported at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands,
Saturday Dec. 26, 2009.(AP Photo/Evert Elzinga)



Dutch authorities said on Saturday that the man who tried to blow up the intercontinental flight had passed through airport security in Lagos, Nigeria, before boarding a connecting route from the Netherlands.

The Dutch counter-terrorism agency says the suspect, Abdul Mutallab, first got on a KLM plane from Lagos to Amsterdam. He then connected with Northwest Flight 253, owned by Delta Airlines, to Detroit.

In Amsterdam, the would be bomber went through a security checkpoint at Schiphol Airport without a hitch.

The agency says it can't completely rule out the potential for dangerous items to be brought on board. Some objects remain difficult to detect with current security technology, such as metal detectors.

Source:cctv

UN Tribunal Rejects Karadzic's Bid to Fire Lawyer

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal has rejected Radovan Karadzic's attempt to fire his court-appointed lawyer.

The U.N. court appointed British attorney Richard Harvey in November to defend Karadzic if the former Bosnian Serb leader continues to boycott his trial when it resumes in March.

Karadzic is conducting his own defense. He refused to attend the start of his genocide trial in October, arguing he has not had enough time to prepare.

In a decision released Thursday, the tribunal rejected Karadzic's argument that he should have been allowed to choose a lawyer who shared his language and Serb heritage.

Karadzic insists he is innocent of 11 charges alleging he masterminded Serb atrocities throughout Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

Source:nytimes.com/

The Netherlands welcomes Afghanistan reinforcements

The Netherlands welcomes the decision to expedite and broaden the international mission in Afghanistan. This was foreign minister Maxime Verhagen’s response today to President Obama’s speech on the new strategy and timetable for the campaign. Mr Verhagen had already been informed of the President’s decision by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

‘The United States is showing its confidence in the mission in Afghanistan,’ Mr Verhagen said. ‘It is vital that Afghanistan does not revert to a safe haven for terrorists. Stepping up and broadening support for Afghanistan will enable its people to provide for the security and reconstruction of their country.’

This strategy is in line with the integrated approach adopted by the Netherlands in the province of Uruzgan. The emphasis is not purely on military efforts, but also on fostering good governance and development.

‘It is important that we safeguard the outstanding results achieved by our troops, development workers and diplomats in Uruzgan, so we can continue to build on them,’ the minister said.

In the future international support for Afghanistan will be increasingly dependent on the results achieved by President Karzai’s government. The Netherlands also favours this approach.

Source: isria.com/