Army powerless against fundamentalist and extremist recruits

The Belgian army is unable to remove its 16 Salafist recruits, or even to prevent them from being promoted, La Libre reports today. The legal impasse was confirmed in a session of the Defence Committee, held behind closed doors in the houses of parliament. Two of the 16 Salafists have attained the rank of lieutenant, it was confirmed. The meeting was set up after the revelations made by La Libre last November about the risk of infiltration in the Belgian Army by radical Islamist elements.  General Testelmans, head of the Army’s intelligence service (SGRS) told MPs that he had also put under surveillance 39 militants close to the far right, belonging to three bikers’ groups including the Hells Angels. The figures have to be put into context against the total number of personnel working for the Belgian army, estimated at 31,000 soldiers and 2,100 civilians. State security bosses and the SGRS told MPs that belonging to the radical Salafist movement is not in itself an offence, as the Constitution guarantees freedom of opinion.