Nine new Dutch added to terrorism watch list

Minister Bert Koenders of Foreign Affairs added 9 new names to the Netherlands' national terrorism watch list, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Tuesday. The list now contains the names of 61 Dutch individuals and 3 organizations. Most of the names on the list involve so-called foreign rebel fighters in the Syrian civil war. They are people who traveled to Syria or Iraq to get involved in terrorist activities. The people on the lists' assets are frozen and they can not use their bank accounts or credit cards. This is to make it more difficult for them to fund terrorist activities. "We also want to prevent these people returning to the Netherlands to commit violence here", Koenders said. The list is shared wit other EU countries, so that everyone is aware of the people and organizations' terrorist connections.