The prosecution is going to ask the U.S. FBI if that agency has any more data on Maastricht terror suspect Mohammed G.'s connection to an IS sympathizer in Somalia. G., meanwhile, remains detained for at least three more months, the court in Rotterdam ruled Thursday at an interim hearing.
'Revolving-door jihadist' Mohammed G., of Iraqi Kurdish descent, is currently in custody because he is suspected of being (remotely) involved in a fatal kidnapping of two South African botanists early this year. Couple Rodney (74) and Rachel (63) Saunders were in a nature reserve in South Africa searching for rare plant seeds. They were kidnapped, robbed and (probably) fatally assaulted by a South African couple, who had already been noticed by local security forces for IS sympathies.
Bitcoins
The latter couple had been in contact with Mohammed G. in the Netherlands since 2015. Justice suspects that the Maastricht man tried to buy bitcoins with credit card data from Rachel Saunders. That purchase, in turn, was possibly intended to finance terror. He is also accused of participating in a terrorist organization.
G. and the South African couple are also said to be all three in contact with one Abu Hattem, who is linked to IS in Somalia. The FBI provided the Dutch prosecutor's office with intercepted messages in which Abu Hattem talks about "my team. Because the Netherlands has no legal cooperation with Somalia, the prosecution is now going to ask the FBI if the service has any more information about the ties between the four.
Jihad
This is not the first time Mohammed G. has been on trial in a jihad case. He already had to appear in 2013 for a (failed) attempt to travel to Syria. At the time - because he was declared completely insane - he had to spend a year in a psychiatric hospital. After he was released, he tried again to go to the combat zone, came before the court again and was sentenced to three years in prison, one of which was suspended for one year with a probation period of five years. Late last year he was released; three months later he was arrested in the investigation of the kidnapping case in South Africa.
