Secret service link to film-maker's killing

[emad]

Independent
By Stephen Castle
11 January 2005


A group linked to the suspected killer of the film-maker and critic of Islam Theo van Gogh had a mole inside the Dutch secret services, a court in Rotterdam heard yesterday.

The trial of a Moroccan-born translator raised new questions about the reach of the networks connected to the suspected murderer of Mr Van Gogh, a descendant of the 19th century painter, who was shot and stabbed as he cycled in Amsterdam. His killing in November last year shocked the Netherlands, sparking a surge of sectarian violence, with arson attacks on mosques, churches and religious schools.

At yesterday's court hearing, the prosecution accused Outman Ben Amar, an employee of the Dutch secret intelligence agency - the AIVD - of passing a copy of a monitored conversation to a group associated with Mohammed B, a Dutch Moroccan who is the chief suspect in Mr Van Gogh's murder.

Mr Ben Amar, 34, who was arrested on 30 September, is charged with disclosing secrets to third parties.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=599636