Four acquitted in terrorism trial

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- A Dutch court acquitted four men Wednesday of involvement in a plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Paris, criticizing the police and intelligence services for an inadequate and improper investigation.

The Rotterdam District Court dismissed all evidence from police raids on two apartments, which were based on a tip from intelligence services in an anti-terrorist crackdown two days after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The suspects had been accused of stealing passports and credit cards, and providing support for a planned suicide bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Paris and a strike against a U.S. military depot in Belgium.

They were acquitted after a three-judge panel said the police "based their suspicions solely on the contents of information given by the security agency" and failed to follow up with an independent inquiry.

The court also ruled that evidence presented by the security service, known by its Dutch initials AIVD, wasn't enough to justify the suspicions and a judge erred in issuing the initial search warrant.

Even if the evidence had been admitted, it still would not have been enough "to link them to an international terrorist organization," the judgment said.

Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner said the court's rejection of such evidence could keep the police from acting to prevent terrorist attacks.

Donner told Dutch television he believed prosecutors will appeal the verdict.

AIVD chief Siebrand van Hulst testified earlier this month that he believed the men were guilty of criminal conspiracy, but he refused to answer detailed questions, saying it would compromise sources and operational procedures.

The defendants -- two Algerians, a Frenchman and a Dutchman -- smiled and shook hands with their lawyers after the verdict was announced. They were escorted from the courtroom by police.

Defense lawyer Mark Oosterveen said the police apparently were under pressure to make arrests after the terrorist attacks in the United States. "It appears the police panicked," he said.

Dismissed evidence included a videotape showing al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden appealing for a holy war against the United States, stolen passports and manuals on explosives and landmines.

The defendants denied charges of being part of a terrorist operation.

The alleged ringleader of the group, Jerome Courtailler, 28, a Frenchman and a convert to Islam, told the court he couldn't understand the Arabic-language bin Laden tape.

Courtailler was freed after the verdict, along with Saaid Ibrahim, a Dutch citizen of Ethiopian origin.

The two other suspects, Abdelghani Rabia and Amine Mezbar, both Algerian citizens, were acquitted of terrorism charges but turned over to immigration police. Mezbar, a Canadian resident, was extradited to the Netherlands in July.

Courtailler acknowledged having met Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian arrested in Belgium and accused of being designated as the suicide bomber of the embassy in Paris.

Courtailler, who once lived in London with Sept. 11 suspect Zacharias Moussaoui, told the court his acquaintance with Trabelsi was based on their mutual interest in soccer.

The next test of allegations made by the intelligence service could come in a separate case, where information provided by the AIVD led to the arrests of 10 men on suspicion of recruiting Dutch Muslims for suicide missions.