GRONINGEN, Nov 10: The Dutch EU presidency said on Wednesday that Europe risked becoming a breeding ground for Islamic extremism and that the problem had to be dealt with urgently.

"In all of Europe, young people are becoming more radical," Dutch Justice Minister Rita Verdonk told an EU conference on immigration and integration being held in this northern Dutch city.

"In the Netherlands we were able to see what happens with radicalisation," said Verdonk, who has taken a tough line on immigration since joining the conservative Dutch government.

As she spoke, Dutch police in The Hague made two arrests during a siege of a building where suspected extremists had been hiding. Earlier, three police officers were wounded by a hand grenade.

The Netherlands has been shaken by a number of serious incidents since controversial film director Theo van Gogh was murdered a week ago by a suspected Islamic radical.

Three mosques were targeted by arsonists and two by vandals over the weekend, and two Islamic schools have also been attacked.

"We must ask ourselves if we (the Netherlands) have not been naive over the past few years, and if for too long we have taken in just any one," said Verdonk.

She said the man suspected of killing van Gogh, who is in police custody, "was driven by the same dark forces which were behind the attacks on New York and Madrid," a reference to the September 11 attacks and the Spanish train bombings.

"Europe must not become a breeding ground for Islamic terrorism," she said. But she added: "We will not allow the Muslim community to be excluded and accused ... and that we enter into a spiral of fear and hate."

Speaking at the opening of the two-day conference, which is being held under tight security, Verdonk said the time for debating was short.

"We have to roll up our sleeves. Time is pressing. There are problems, we must face them," she said.

The head of the European Commission division on justice freedom and security, Jonathan Faull, said there was no place for "murder and terrorism" in a democratic society.

"Whatever the precise borderline between integration and assimilation, the law should be respected," he said.-AFP