Eight arrested after murder in filmmaker

Police arrested eight suspected Islamic radicals as part of investigations into the brutal killing of outspoken Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, Dutch prosecutors said today.

The suspects were detained in the 24 hours following Van Gogh’s killing on Tuesday in an Amsterdam street, said prosecution spokeswoman Dop Kruimel.

Six of the detainees are of Moroccan origin, one is Algerian and the last has dual Spanish-Moroccan nationality, Kruimel said.

He said the suspects, whose identities were not released, had previously been detained and released in an investigation into a potential terrorist threat in October 2003.

“The suspects were detained at a number of residences searched in connection with the Van Gogh investigation. They were previously known to us,” she said.

“As of now only one suspect is being held for Van Gogh’s murder, but the investigation will determine if others may have been connected. All options are still open at this point.”

Five suspects, including a 18-year-old Samir Azzouz, were detained in cities around the Netherlands on October 17, 2003 on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack.

All were released within two weeks for lack of evidence, but Azzouz was re-arrested in June and now awaits trial on charges of planning a terrorist attack on targets including a nuclear reactor and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.