Dutch prosecutors say suspected Islamic extremists had planned to assassinate a Somali-born member of parliament and critic of radical Islam on New Year's Eve.
Prosecutors say police uncovered evidence of a plot against lawmaker Aayan Hirsi Ali during a police raid targeting alleged members of an Islamic terrorist cell. They said the alleged militants had planned to assassinate Ms. Hirsi Ali on December 31 last year because the sound of firecrackers would have covered that of gunfire.
Ms. Hirsi Ali was a friend of controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who was killed by a suspected Islamic extremist last November.
The filmmaker and Ms. Hirsi Ali had collaborated on Mr. van Gogh's film, Submission, which criticized the treatment of women under Islam.
Some information for this story provided by AFP and AP.
