Dutch official targets terrorism

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From combined dispatches

GRONINGEN, Netherlands -- Europe risks becoming a breeding ground for Islamic extremism and the problem has to be dealt with urgently, a Dutch official said yesterday.

"In all of Europe, young people are becoming more radical," said Justice Minister Rita Verdonk, whose country holds the presidency of the European Union. She was speaking at an EU conference on immigration and integration being held in this northern Dutch city.

"In the Netherlands, we were able to see what happens with radicalization," said Mrs. Verdonk, who has taken a tough line on immigration since joining the conservative Dutch government.

As she spoke, police in The Hague made two arrests, ending a 14-hour siege of an apartment building that began when suspects sought in a counterterrorism probe wounded three officers with a hand grenade.

Police evacuated five city streets and banned air traffic over The Hague during the siege in a working-class district.

ANP news agency reported that police in the central region of Utrecht also arrested a man yesterday.

The Netherlands has been shaken by several incidents since film director Theo van Gogh was killed Nov. 2 by a suspected Islamist. Three mosques were targeted by arsonists and two by vandals over the weekend, and two Islamic schools have been attacked.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who visited a primary school destroyed by fire Tuesday, told parliament that he would work with organizations representing the almost 1 million Muslims who make up nearly 6 percent of the population.

"We must not allow ourselves to be swept away in a maelstrom of violence," he said. "Free expression of opinion, freedom of religion and other basic rights are the foundation stones of our state and our democracy. They are valid for everybody, always."