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Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Spain arrests 16 terror suspects connected to train bombings & recruitment for suicide bombers in Iraq

Spain arrests 16 terror suspects connected to train bombings & recruitment for suicide bombers in Iraq

June 15, 2005


In this image made available by the Spanish police a masked Spanish policeman leads away an Islamic terror suspects in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday June 15, 2005. Spanish police arrested 16 Islamic terror suspects in raids in several cities, including 11 men accused of having ties to Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's group al-Qaida in Iraq and recruiting people for suicide attacks there. (AP Photo)

MIM: After the Madrid train bombings the Spanish government realized it could no longer ignore the Islamist threat which had been festering in the country and gone unchecked for more then a decade. Spain is still referred to by Muslims as Al Andalus and considered to be part of the Khalifate which must be brought back into the Islamist fold like the rest of Europe. http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Al_Andalus

The proximity to Morocco has made it an ideal haven for terrorists who want to commit crimes involving drugs and robbery to finance terrorism and take advantage of their relatively lenient criminal justice system. In addition terrorists can slip in and out of the rest of Europe at will.

Spanish policeman takes terrorist into custody

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4094688.stm

Spain detains 16 terror suspect

Spanish police have arrested 16 people suspected of having links to Islamic terror groups.

Five of the suspects were held for alleged involvement in the Madrid train bombings of March 2004.

The other 11 men are thought to have links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant spearheading the insurgency in Iraq.

Some 500 police took part in raids in Madrid and a number of regions across Spain, the interior ministry said.

A series of co-ordinated bombs attacks on trains in Madrid on 11 March last year killed 191 people and sparked a wave of police raids on suspected militants.

Dozens have been arrested and several have already faced trial.

Twenty-four men charged with terror offences recently appeared in court, three of them accused of involvement in planning the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.

As well as Madrid, Wednesday's arrests were made in the north-eastern region of Catalonia, Andalucia in southern Spain, Levante in the east, and Ceuta, Spanish territory on the northern Moroccan coast.

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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-spain-terror-arrests,0,4527114,print.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

16 Terror arrests in Spain

MADRID, Spain -- Spanish police arrested 16 Islamic terror suspects in raids in several cities, including 11 suspected members of a group thought to have ties to Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq, officials said Wednesday.

The 11 were part of a support group for a Syrian-based network that recruited people for suicide attacks against U.S. and allied forces in Iraq, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Some of the detainees had said that they themselves wanted to become "martyrs for Islam" and were waiting for orders to do so, the statement said. It did not specify how Spanish authorities learned this.

Most of the 11 are Moroccan. They were arrested as part of a probe that began in 2004.

Some 500 Spanish police took part in raids in Barcelona, Valencia, the southern Andalusia region and Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the northern coast of Morocco.

Al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq is responsible for many of the bloodiest terror attacks in Iraq.

The Spanish ministry said the 11 detainees belonged to a terrorist network that was established in Spain and linked to Ansar al-Islam, thought to have ties with the terror group run by al-Zarqawi.

The other five detainees were linked to last year's commuter train bombing in Madrid, which killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500. They were arrested Tuesday in Madrid and Barcelona, the statement said.

Some of the five had close ties to ringleaders of the attack, the ministry said.

Mohamed Afalah, a fugitive suspect in the bombings, apparently staged a suicide attack in Iraq some time between May 12-19, the statement said without giving a source. It said the target of the alleged attack was not known.

The arrests were ordered by a judge at the National Court, the Madrid-based tribunal that is the hub of Spain's probes of Islamic terror cases, including the train bombings and an al-Qaida cell currently on trial in Madrid. Three of the 24 defendants are charged with helping plot the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

A total of 26 people have been jailed over the train bombings, and more than 70 others have been questioned and released but are still considered suspects.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/15/AR2005061500377.html

11 Arrested on Terror Charges in Spain

By DANIEL WOOLLS
The Associated Press
Wednesday, June 15, 2005; 2:39 PM

MADRID, Spain -- Spanish police arrested 11 men Wednesday on charges of belonging to a Syrian-based group that recruits suicide bombers to attack U.S. troops in Iraq, officials said Wednesday in revealing a new facet of Spain's role as an al-Qaida staging ground.

Five other people were detained a day earlier in connection with last year's train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500, authorities said.

More than 500 heavily armed police staged pre-dawn raids in a half dozen cities to grab the 11 alleged members of a recruiting network that has ties to Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's terror group al-Qaida in Iraq, the Interior Ministry said.

Spain has had several brushes with al-Qaida, including the commuter train bombings on March 11, 2004, a reported plot to blow up a Madrid courthouse last year and militants' alleged use of Spain to help organize the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America.

But this was the first time Spain arrested people on suspicion of sending suicide attackers to Iraq, officials at the National Court said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitiveness of their jobs at the country's hub for Islamic terror investigations and the target of last year's foiled bomb plot.

While Iraq's insurgency is believed to be primarily made up of domestic Sunni Arabs, nearly all suicide bombings there are thought to be committed by Islamic extremists from other countries. Al-Zarqawi's group, al-Qaida in Iraq, is blamed for the bloodiest attacks.

The Interior Ministry said some of the 11 suspects tied to the recruiting network said they also wanted to become "martyrs for Islam" in suicide attacks and were awaiting orders to do so. It did not specify how Spanish authorities learned that.

"Basically, what the police accuse them of is raising money and recruiting people to do activities abroad related with the international jihad," or holy war, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso told reporters.

Most of the 11 are Moroccan and practically all of them sold drugs and staged robberies to finance their network, the ministry said. They were arrested as part of a probe that began in 2004.

Raids were conducted in Barcelona, Valencia, the southern Andalusia region and Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the northern coast of Morocco. Police video showed helmeted officers with assault rifles standing over handcuffed men kneeling or lying face down, sometimes in their underwear, at their homes.

The Interior Ministry said the 11 belonged to a terror group that was established in Spain and linked to Ansar al-Islam, a Syrian-based group thought to have ties to al-Zarqawi's group.

Its statement said one of the men was a brother of Abdel Hay Assas, who along with fellow Moroccan Mushin Khaybar was described as the Syrian group's main recruiters and fund-raisers. The two were arrested in Syria in May 2004 and handed over to Morocco, where they are charged with terrorism, the ministry said.

It said the apparent leader of the Spanish network's recruitment activities was Samir Tahtah, a 28-year-old Moroccan arrested in a town near Barcelona. He coordinated communications with overseas leaders and the movement of recruits to Iraq for terrorist attacks, it said.

The 11 arrests were ordered by judges at the National Court, whose investigations have led to the detentions of some 200 terror suspects, including an alleged al-Qaida cell currently on trial in Madrid. Three of those 24 defendants are charged with helping plot the Sept. 11 attack.

Officials said some of the five suspects arrested Tuesday had close ties to ringleaders of last year's commuter train bombing in Madrid.

The Interior Ministry also said one fugitive in that bombing, Mohamed Afalah, was believed to have died in a suicide attack in Iraq sometime during May 12-19. The statement did not give a source for that information, but said the target of the alleged attack was not known.

A total of 26 people have been jailed in the train bombing investigation, and more than 70 others have been questioned and released but are still considered suspects.

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