THE HAGUE: A Dutch court sentenced a Pakistani man to 10 years behind bars Monday for planning to assassinate a politician Geert Wilders after the MP announced an anti-Islam cartoon competition.
The man, identified as Junaid I. by local media, was arrested in August 2018 at a train station in The Hague after he posted a film on Facebook in which he said he wanted to “send Wilders to hell” and urged others to help.
Judges at The Hague’s district court found the 27-year-old man, who had traveled from France, guilty of “planning a murder with a terrorist motive” and “incitement to commit a terrorist deed.”
“The suspect more than once said that Wilders’ death would be a good deed,” said presiding judge Jan van Steen, who added four years in jail to the six years sought by the prosecution.
“Furthermore, the suspect wanted to commit the murder in one of the parliamentary buildings, the heart of Dutch democracy,” Van Steen said, adding “the court is alarmed that the suspect... declared that this case will boost his image in Pakistan.”
The suspect had denied any terror-related motives.
He said during the trial that he was “peace-loving” and had only traveled to the Netherlands from France to protest against Wilders’ cartoon competition.
The Facebook video was seen by more than 153,000 people and shared 14,000 times.
Far-right leader Wilders canceled his plans two days later to stage a cartoon competition against the Prophet of Islam, a move that angered many Muslims, particularly in Pakistan where protests were led by the hard-line Islamist Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party.
Wilders, 56, known for his peroxide bouffant hairdo and firebrand anti-immigration and anti-Islamist statements, lives in a safe house and has been granted 24-hour protection by the Dutch state.
The court did not say how Junaid I. planned to kill Wilders but found that in a bugged phone call after his arrest he said he took “specific things with him... without which his mission would not be complete.”
He had also walked round with a “large backpack, which he did not have when he was arrested” and lied about what it contained, the judges said.
A day after Wilders announced the cancelation, an Afghan man stabbed two American tourists at Amsterdam’s main train station. The man, who said he wanted to “protect the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH),” was last month sentenced to 26 years in jail.
Pakistani jailed for Dutch anti-Islam MP murder plot
Pakistani jailed for Dutch anti-Islam MP murder plot
- A Dutch court found the 27-year-old guilty of ‘planning a murder with a terrorist motive’
- The judge added four years in jail to the six years sought by the prosecution
Pakistan PM to seek clarity on troops for Gaza in US visit, sources say
- Pakistan’s prime minister is set to attend first meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace body on Thursday
- Shehbaz Sharif wants clarity on peace mission force’s goal, what authority they would operate under, say sources
ISLAMABAD: Before Pakistan commits to sending troops to Gaza as part of the International Stabilization Force it wants assurances from the United States that it will be a peacekeeping mission rather than tasked with disarming Hamas, three sources told Reuters.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to attend the first formal meeting of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Washington on Thursday, alongside delegations from at least 20 countries.
Trump, who will chair the meeting, is expected to announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a UN-authorized stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave.
Three government sources said during the Washington visit Sharif wanted to better understand the goal of the ISF, what authority they were operating under and what the chain of command was before making a decision on deploying troops.
“We are ready to send troops. Let me make it clear that our troops could only be part of a peace mission in Gaza,” said one of the sources, a close aide of Sharif.
“We will not be part of any other role, such as disarming Hamas. It is out of the question,” he said.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for a comment.
FORCE TO OVERSEE RECONSTRUCTION AND RECOVERY
Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan calls for a force from Muslim nations to oversee a transition period for reconstruction and economic recovery in the devastated Palestinian territory, and Washington has been pressing Islamabad to join.
Analysts say Pakistan would be an asset to the multinational force, with its experienced military that has gone to war with arch-rival India and tackled insurgencies.
“We can send initially a couple of thousand troops anytime, but we need to know what role they are going to play,” the source added.
Two of the sources said it was likely Sharif, who has met Trump earlier this year in Davos and late last year at the White House, would either have an audience with him on the sidelines of the meeting or the following day at the White House.
BALANCING FACTORS
Initially designed to cement Gaza’s ceasefire, Trump sees the Board of Peace, launched in late January, taking a wider role in resolving global conflicts. Some countries have reacted cautiously, fearing it could become a rival to the United Nations.
While Pakistan has supported the establishment of the board, it has voiced concerns against the mission to demilitarize Gaza’s Hamas.
Analysts say Islamabad will need to strike a balance between pleasing Trump by providing troops and any potential domestic fallout in a predominantly Muslim nation.
Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the United States, said the Pakistani public supported sending troops to Gaza only to help protect Palestinians.
“If developments in Gaza after the deployment do not improve the position of Palestinians, there could be a massive reaction at the public level in Pakistan,” said Haqqani, currently a scholar at the Hudson Institute in Washington.
