Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

In December, the Supreme Court of Kosovo upheld the guilty verdict of Amir Sopa, who was
sentenced in 2011 to 10 years’ imprisonment on two charges of terrorism. Sopa was found guilty
of firing a rocket-propelled grenade at the office of the District Court of Pristina in 2003 and
sending death threats to the former mayor of Pristina on behalf of the Albanian National Army, a
violent extremist organization.
Also in December, the Government of Kosovo extradited Shukri Aliu to Macedonia, where he
was in pretrial detention on terrorism-related charges at year’s end. (Aliu was born in Kosovo
and also holds Macedonian citizenship.) In 2011, Macedonia convicted Aliu in absentia of
aggravated theft, but he is also believed to have been involved in other criminal acts in
Macedonia and to have ties to terrorist organizations.
Countering Terrorist Finance: Kosovo is not a member of a Financial Action Task Force-style
regional body. In December, the Kosovo Assembly considered revisions to the Law on the
Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, which would strengthen legislation
passed in 2010. The amendments, if passed, would help Kosovo fully implement international
anti-money laundering and counterterrorist finance standards, create enforcement mechanisms
for the examination of reporting entities, and more narrowly define terrorist financing.
In order to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud, the Central Bank of Kosovo
(CBK) would benefit greatly from obtaining a code from the Society for Worldwide Interbank
Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). This code would facilitate the CBK’s monitoring of
cross-border banking operations and adherence to international oversight requirements. Without
this SWIFT code, Kosovo’s access to information about the nature of cross-border financial
transactions is limited, and thus Kosovo is seriously hampered in its efforts to prevent terrorist
financing, money laundering, and other types of fraud and corruption. The Central Bank of
Kosovo has sought to join the SWIFT system since 2004.
For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, we refer you to the 2013
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and
Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.
THE NETHERLANDS
Overview: The Netherlands continued to respond effectively to the global terrorist threat in the
areas of border and transportation security, terrorist financing, and bilateral counterterrorism
cooperation. Cooperation with U.S. law enforcement remained excellent. In its December
quarterly terrorism threat analysis, the Dutch National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and
Security (NCTV) maintained the national threat level at “limited,” meaning chances of an attack
in the Netherlands or against Dutch interests were relatively small but could not be ruled out
entirely. The threat against the Netherlands is mainly from violent Islamist extremists, though the
attention of the fragmented and leaderless network is mostly focused on overseas conflict areas.
Individuals traveling to those areas to fight are the main focus for Dutch authorities, but domestic
lone wolves also appeared on the radar. Resilience by the Dutch population to terrorism
continued to be high and there was a trend towards less radicalization and alienation.
In 2012, the NCTV completed its two year internal reorganization process; national security,
counterterrorism, and cyber security are now under the NCTV umbrella.
83