ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Dec. 2 - Al Qaida Suspects Go On Trial.

Four suspected Al Qaida members - two Algerians, a Frenchman and a Dutchman - go on trial in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on charges of running a terrorist support network to assist in strikes against the US Embassy in Paris and the Kleine-Brogel military base in north-east Belgium, where about 100 US Air Force personnel are stationed. (This is the first terrorist case to come before a Dutch court since crackdowns following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the US. The alleged Dutch cell was uncovered as the police carried out a Europe-wide sweep two days after the Sept. 11 attacks. Three of the four men were arrested on Sept. 13, 2001). Searches of men's apartment in Rotterdam turned up stolen passports, videotapes of Osama Bin Laden, manuals on explosives and land mines, and equipment often used to falsify documents. Three times, judges have extended the pre-trial custody of a Frenchman, Jerome Courtailler, said to be the group's leader, and an Algerian, Abdelghani Rabia. Another Algerian, Amine Mezbar, was extradited to the Netherlands in July. The fourth defendant, a Dutchman of Ethiopian origin named Saaid Ibrahim, was released early this year because of insufficient evidence but still faces charges. While prosecutors say they have substantial evidence linking the men to terrorist plots, they will be tried under pre-Sept. 11 laws that do not address terrorism. If convicted, they will receive shorter prison terms than if they had been tried under new legislation. The Dutch cell allegedly worked in concert with Nizar Trabelsi, a Tunisian soccer player believed to have been the designated suicide bomber for the Paris attack, who was arrested on the same day in Belgium. In an interview with Belgian radio from prison, Trabelsi admitted his role in the plot. Two other trials are to start in the Netherlands in coming months involving 10 more terror suspects.