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November 29, 2005
Belgium: Woman Converted To Islam, Became Suicide Bomber
News from Expatica and Free Republic states that a Belgium woman has become the first female European suicide bomber. She blew herself up in Iraq either a fortnight ago (FR) or several weeks ago (Exp).
Neither report says how many victims she took with her in her attack, but a few details of her path to jihad are given. The woman married a radical Islamic man and having married him, she soon became a convert to Islam.
She travelled to Iraq via Turkey and was identified by American forces in Baghdad after she had committed her "jihad". The husband who is thought to have arranged her trip has since disappeared.
The Belgian anti-terrorist unit has confirmed the woman's identity. The newspaper Le Soir states that 10% of suicide attacks over the past 25 years have been carried out by women, almost exclusively by women from the Middle East or South-East Asia.
This case reported today is the first known incidence of a female European suicide attack. I would love to know more about this case, and hopefully more details will emerge soon. Converts have been known to commit suicide attacks as in the case of Germaine Lindsay in the 7/7 attacks, but for a woman to become so obsessed with the religion of her husband to end up killing herself and others is unusual.
I wonder if her husband had set up for this before she became a target for marriage and conversion?
UPDATE: The Telegraph for Wednesday 30 states that on Nov 9 and Sept 28 there were female suicide attacks in Baghdad, quoting a US source, but has quoted comments made which are interesting, and slightly worrying for anyone wishing to bring you the news from the world.
Claude Moniquet, a counter-terrorist and intelligence analyst in Belgium, said the sudden emergence of the story in the French press appeared to have "placed Belgium investigators in a very difficult situation".Mr Moniquet said: "If these reports are all true, they will have been working to roll up whatever network carried this woman to Iraq. We can expect imminent arrests in the next two or three days."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 29, 2005 3:30 PM
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