give it up

At the bottom is a somewhat stale DPA story about Belgian police identifying the murder suspects as immigrants from Poland, and the PM of Poland promising to help Belgium catch the suspects.

Now we get the hot breaking news -- and some nasty anger from Iran.

The top two stories are 4 and 5 hours old, so what's that in GMT? about 10:30 and 09:30 GMT. (Agence Vleeptron-Presse always uses 24-hour time format.)

Originally the Belgian media and government agencies had suggested the suspects were "of North African origin" -- i.e., Muslim immigrants.

=============================

Radio New Zealand
Wednesday 26 April 2006

Belgium identifies
murder suspects,
causing outcry

Belgian authorities revealed on Tuesday that the suspects in the murder of a teenager that shocked the nation were Polish, sparking an outcry over original assumptions the perpetrators were of North African origin.

Public prosecutors confirmed on Monday that they had arrested one of the two youths they believed had killed Joe Van Holsbeeck, 17. The second youth was thought to have fled to Poland, authorities said on Tuesday.

Van Holsbeeck was stabbed five times in the chest during evening rushhour at the capital's central railway station on April 12 when he refused to hand over his MP3 player.

More than 80,000 people marched silently through Brussels on Sunday, the largest such demonstration since 300,000 people took to the streets in 1996 for the victims of paedophile Marc Dutroux.

Local media reports, citing witnesses, originally said the police were seeking two youths of North African origin.

Immediately after close-circuit television footage was released, Muslim religious leaders called on their community not to shield the suspects but to help police with their enquiries.

News on Tuesday that the suspects were Polish prompted outrage from the Muslim community and criticism from the federal justice minister.

Copyright © 2006 Radio New Zealand

==================================

Islamic Republic News Agency (Iran)

Belgium's Muslim
organization says
stigmatization of Muslims
has increased

BRUSSELS, April 26, IRNA -- Just after a 17-year-old Belgian teenager was stabbed to death at the busy Brussels Central train station on April 12, both the Belgian media and officials suggested that his killers were of "North African" origin, implying they were Muslims.

Imams in Friday sermons in Brussels denounced the killing as a heinous crime and urged the Muslim community to cooperate with the police to find the murderers.

Police even distributed video footage and pictures of the suspected "North Africans."

But it has turned out that the killers of the Belgian youth were not "North Africans" but were from Poland.

Local media reports said one of the two suspects has been arrested by the police while the other has escaped to Poland.

Belgium's Muslim Executive, the official body representing Muslims in the country, said that it regrets that the media had called for the killers to be sought among the country's North African community.

The Executive expressed its displeasure that the mistake had led to speculation about the religion of the killers.

It said that as a result stigmatization of Belgian Muslims has increased.

Meanwhile, the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office has apologized for saying that the suspects were North African in appearance.

Belgian Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx has warned of the danger of stigmatizing particular social groups now that it has been proven that the criminals are not of north African origin.

Some 80,000 demonstrators walked through Brussels Sunday to protest the killing of the teenager, who refused to give his digital music player to the two robbers.

An estimated 400,000 Muslims, mainly from the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, and Turkey, live in Belgium.

- 30 -

=====================

Deutsche Presse-Agentur / Monsters and Critics
Wednesday 26 April 2006

Europe News

Belgian police arrest suspect
in MP3-player murder case

BRUSSELS / WARSAW -- Belgian police arrested a 16-year-old suspect of Polish origin Tuesday in connection with the murder of a 17-year-old youth who was robbed of an MP3 player.

The suspect was identified with the help of video surveillance footage of the attacker in a city subway station. Another 16-year-old Polish national, who is believed to have dealt the victim fatal stab wounds in the April 13 attack, is still at large.

Investigators did not find the prime suspect at his address in Brussels. 'But we know his identity and have a photograph of him,' senior police officer Glenn Audenaert said. 'We are confident of apprehending him.'

Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said his government would support the investigation.

'The Polish government will do everything to apprehend and fully prosecute the perpetrators,' Marcinkiewicz told Poland's TVN24 news channel Tuesday evening. 'But Poland and Poles cannot be blamed for this terrible event.'

The murder of the 17-year-old Belgian youth in the afternoon and during rush hour at Brussels' main railway station caused nationwide dismay.

Last Sunday, 80,000 people took to the streets of Brussels to demonstrate silently for peaceful coexistence with the country's large immigrant population.

Video footage from surveillance cameras at first led many Belgians to believe the young suspect was a North African immigrant.

© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Anon Apr 26th, 2006 - 01:42:41
Wow, even in Belgium brothers get the blame for living while black (or brown)

aghori Apr 26th, 2006 - 04:14:44
if some one needs anything, better try to fulfill the need, but it is difficult, i have many books, would i give one away, no. If he then kills me and takes the book, is it his fault, no. I think its my own fault.

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