Abu Nidal Aide Visits Belgium; 2 Officials Quit
Two senior Belgian government officials resigned Monday after criticism that the Foreign Ministry allowed a senior aide to Palestinian guerrilla chief and known terrorist Abu Nidal to visit Brussels on the eve of the Persian Gulf War.
The Fatah Revolutionary Council that Walid Khaled represents as its spokesman is one of the groups Western security services fear may stage pro-Iraqi terror attacks.
The Foreign Ministry said Alex Reyn, the head of Foreign Minister Mark Eyskens’ private office, and Jan Hollants van Loocke, political director at the ministry, had quit.
The Foreign Ministry has been under a hail of criticism since police picked up Khaled, in Brussels’ central square last Wednesday.
The ministry admitted earlier that it had issued Khaled a tourist visa and that Van Loocke met him Wednesday in a Brussels hotel.
“Following the questions raised by the presence in Brussels of Walid Khaled, the political director and the Cabinet chief have asked to be relieved of their responsibilities,” the ministry said.
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