The trial has begun in Brussels of 23 alleged Islamic terrorists. The accused are believed to have ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and are charged with planning attacks on US targets in Europe. A number of them are also charged with involvement in the murder of Afghan leader Ahmed Shah Masood. He led the Northern Alliance in its fight against the Taliban and was assassinated shortly after the September 11th attacks.
The key suspect in the Brussels trial is former Tunisian footballer Nizar Trabelsi. He has admitted planning an attack on a US military airbase in Belgium. The trial is taking place amid extremely tight security.
Footballer (soccer that is) 'swayed by bin Laden'
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- A professional footballer confessed to knowing Osama bin Laden and plotting to attack a Belgian air force base, a Belgian court has been told.
Belgium's biggest ever terrorist trial opened Thursday, with 23 suspected al Qaeda collaborators, including professional soccer player Nizar ben Abdelaziz Trabelsi, facing a raft of charges including fraud, possession of firearms, belonging to a criminal organization and recruiting for a foreign armed force.
Others accused in Europe's latest high-profile trial of suspected Islamic militants face charges linking them to the killing of an Afghan opposition leader two days before the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.
Belgian authorities were taking no chances as the trial started at a tightly guarded Brussels court house a day after al Qaeda called for more attacks on the West. Bullet proof glass shielded key suspects who were each handcuffed to a guard.
Trabelsi's lawyer, Didier de Quevy, said his client was going to plead guilty to several counts, including plotting an attack on a military base housing U.S. staff in Belgium.
"He was targeting U.S. interests in Belgium," de Quevy said. "He has admitted to it... he accepted to do these things because he was under the influence of Osama bin Laden."
Trabelsi also is suspected of being involved in a plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Paris around the same time, something he denies. Other charges against him include attempting to destroy property by explosion, possession of illegal arms and membership in a private militia.
The footballer had already admitted in a radio interview last year that he knew and admired bin Laden, al Qaeda's Saudi-born leader and the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks.
Trabelsi was arrested in Brussels with explosives and firearms two days after the September 11 attacks. De Quevy, said he was seeking a lighter sentence because he had confessed to the charges.
The second key suspect, Tarek ben Habib Maaroufi of Tunisia, is accused of leading a phony passport ring linked to the Sept. 9, 2001, slaying of Afghan opposition leader Ahmed Shah Massood. Two suicide bombers posing as journalists were allegedly traveling on false Belgian passports in Afghanistan when they killed Massood.
Investigators believe the attackers that killed Massood were sent by bin Laden, who at the time enjoyed the support of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban government.
Maaroufi also faces charges that he tried to recruit for a foreign military force, prosecutors said.
Trabelsi and Maaroufi face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Both are in custody, along with six other suspects.
Belgium has no specific anti-terrorist laws and most of the other suspects face lesser charges of conspiracy to commit a crime.
"It will be an extremely difficult and sensitive trial," defense lawyer Olivier Martins told The Associated Press.
The trial is expected to last until June 30.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/05/22/belgium.terror/index.html