An alleged group arrested last December in one of the largest counterterrorism operations in Belgian history have been found to have connections to a senior al-Qaeda operative who helped orchestrate the 2006 “Airline Plot,” widely recognized as al Qaeda’s most serious terror attempt since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
A senior counterterrorism source with detailed knowledge of the investigation found connections to Moez Garsallaoui, a Tunisian Islamist militant who left Belgium for the tribal areas of Pakistan in late 2007. Belgian investigators said that a pro-al-Qaeda website helped radicalize the members of the alleged Brussels terrorist cell. Fourteen individuals were originally arrested in Belgium; six were charged with participation in a terrorist group, and the others were released.
