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Europe

Suspected Islamic State Recruiter Held in Spanish Custody

2014-09-29

[AnNahar] A Spanish court Sunday remanded in jug the suspected leader of a Death Eater cell based in north Africa that recruited fighters for the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... jihadists. High Court Judge Javier Gomez Bermudez in Madrid ruled that there was a "high probability" that Mohammed Said Mohammed was the head of the cell based in Melilla, a Spanish territory on the northern tip of Morocco, and the nearby Moroccan city of Nador. Spanish and Moroccan security forces detained Mohammed, a Spanish national of Moroccan descent, and eight other suspected members of the cell on Friday in Melilla and Nador. Spain's interior ministry said at the time that Mohammed worked with his brother, a former Spanish soldier and explosives specialist who is currently fighting with IS turbans now in control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Two of the suspected members of the cell are believed to have travelled in July to an area of Syria or Iraq under IS control, the ministry added. The judge said in his ruling that there was evidence that the suspects were planning their "imminent" departure to join the IS jihadists. He said Mohammed had made contradictory statements during questioning, such as claiming not to know the other suspects who were detained on Friday even though witnesses had seen him meeting with them. Moroccan authorities estimate there are between 1,500 and 2,000 Moroccans fighting in Syria and Iraq. Spain has incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... dozens of suspected turbans in raids this year. IS fighters have beheaded a British aid worker and two U.S. journalists, and are holding two other Britons, Alan Henning and John Cantlie. A U.S.-led alliance has launched air strikes against the IS turbans in Syria and Iraq. Spain has spoken out against the brutality of the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS, but it has not participated in military strikes against the turbans in Iraq or Syria.

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Europe

Suspects get 40,000 years for Madrid train bombings.

2007-11-01

Doesn't matter, they won't serve more than ten years each ... (AKI) - Three out of eight top suspects in the 2004 Madrid train bombings were on Wednesday given maximum jail terms of thousands of years in prison for their role in the coordinated attacks on the Madrid commuter trains that killed 191 people and injured nearly 2,000. A total of 21 out of 28 people on trial were found guilty of involvement in the 11 March 2004 bombings. "Today, justice has been done," said Spain's prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, commenting the sentences. Seven of the 28 defendants were acquitted, including the main suspect and alleged bombing mastermind Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, also known as "Mohammed the Egyptian". Ahmed was extradited to Spain from Italy in 2004 and has been sentenced by an Italian court to eight years in jail for links to Muslim militant groups in Europe. Jamal Zougam, one of the leaders of the Islamist cell who was accused of planting the bombs, was sentenced to 30 years for each of the 191 victims and 20 years for each of the injured, and 12 years for belonging to a terrorist cell. Under Spanish law, he can only serve a maximum of 40 years in prison. Spaniard Emilio Suarez Trashorras, who was found guilty of supplying the bombers with dynamite, also received a sentence of over 35,000 years in jail. Judge Javier Gomez Bermudez ruled out the Basque separatist group ETA's involvement in the deadly bombings. The attacks caused a political earthquake in Spanish politics as voters resoundingly rejected a conservative Spanish government in parliamentary polls that took place three days after the bombings. Shortly after its election to office, Zapatero's new Socialist government pulled out Spain's troops from Iraq. The ruling centre-right Partido Popular (PP) had wrongly blamed the Islamist attack on ETA, despite mounting evidence that Islamists were responsible. Rafa Zouhier, a Moroccan national was sentenced to 10 years in jail for putting the bombers in touch with Trashorras to obtain the explosives used in the attack. Another Moroccan national, Otman el-Ganoui, also convicted of playing a role in obtaining explosives for the attack, was sentenced to 30 years for each of the 191 victims and 20 years for each of the injured. He also got a 12 year sentence for belonging to a terrorist cell. Spaniards Carmen Toro, Antonio Toro, Emilio Llano, Javier Gonzalez Diaz, Ivan Granados and the Moussaten brothers were acquitted of all charges. Of the nine Spanish suspects, one woman was charged and convicted with supplying stolen dynamite used in the attacks. The judge announced compensation for victims of the attacks ranging from 30 thousand euros per victim to 1.5 million euros.The victims were divided by 'groups' depending on the severity of their injuries. The jury reached their verdicts with "total unanimity," Bermudez said. All the suspects pleaded innocent and those found guilty are expected to appeal against their sentences. The verdict had been scheduled for 11:00 am, but was delayed due to protests by victims of the bombings, who wanted to be present in the courtroom. A total 25 journalists were removed from the public gallery in order to fit in 25 victims of the attacks in the courtroom.

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Europe

Key Suspect Back In The Dock At Madrid Train Bombing Trial

2007-02-24

The high security trial of 29 people suspected of involvement in the deadly March 2004 bombings of commuter trains in the Spanish capital, Madrid, will resume on Monday. A key defendant, the Egyptian Rabei Ousmane Sayed Ahmed will again appear in court after refusing to answer questions from the prosecution last Thursday - the opening day of the trial. He is charged with 191 murders, 1,824 attempted murders and with running a terrorist organisation. He denies the charges and has said he condemns the Madrid train bombings - the worst al-Qaeda inspired terrorist acts on European soil - which killed 191 people and wounded over 1,800. Ahmed's lawyer asked for the trial to be interrupted last week so that his client could listen once again to phone taps made by Italian police in which Ahmed is allegedly heard saying the 11 March 2004 attacks "was all my idea, and took a lot of patience and preparation." In the phone taps, a voice investigators allege is Ahmed's is heard calling the Madrid bombers "martrys and my brothers." One of the allleged chief plotters behind the attacks, Ahmed faces some 38,000 years in jail if convicted. He was arrested on 7 June, 2004 in Italy and was extradited to Spain. Police bugged one of the Milan apartments he lived in and his mobile. At another address he had lived at, a note with the words "11-03-04, martyr, explosive,' was found, according to investigators. During the pre-trial investigation, Ahmed, nicknamed "Mohammed the Egyptian," said he did not recognise the voice in the various recorded conversations as his. Seven Arab key suspects - including Ahmed - each face a sentence of some 40,000 years jail if convicted. Under Spanish law, the maximum term any individual can serve is 40 years, however. Prosecutors have asked for sentences totalling over 270,000 years for the 29 suspects, many of whom are Moroccan. More than 600 witnesses and 100 forensic experts have been called to give evidence at the trial, which is expected to last five-six months. A source at Spain's High Court described the trial - which has taken three years to prepare - as the most complicated case the country has seen. The three-judge panel is led by Javier Gomez Bermudez, who also presided over a trial of 24 suspected al-Qaeda members in 2005. Close to 100,000 pages of evidence prepared by the state prosecutor details how the Islamist cell developed in Spain, allegedly financed the plot by selling hashish and ecstasy pills, and how they made contact with former miners in northern Spain to purchase dynamite for the attacks. Nine Spaniards are charged with supplying and delivering explosives to the cell.

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Europe

Judge asks Spain to declassify papers in bomb trial

2007-02-21

A Spanish court hearing the Madrid train bomb trial asked the government on Monday to declassify papers in which one of the accused allegedly mentions contacts between a suspect and Basque separatist group ETA. When the bombs ripped through commuter trains on March 11, 2004, killing 191 people, the then-ruling conservative Popular Party blamed the blasts on ETA before a battery of evidence pinned the blame on a group of Islamist militants. Prosecutors have ruled out any link between the Islamists and ETA, which has killed more than 800 people in a four-decade fight for independence for the Basque Country in northern Spain and southwest France. However, some rightwing media and politicians still insist ETA had a role in the train bombings. The lead judge in the case, Javier Gomez Bermudez, asked the government to release documents from the national intelligence centre about a meeting agents had with Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras, accused of supplying the bombers with dynamite. In that meeting, Trashorras said Jamal Ahmidan, who prosecutors say was one of the main people behind the bombs, had been in contact with various ETA prisoners, court sources said. Trashorras, a former miner, is accused of selling dynamite to Ahmidan, known as "El Chino" (The Chinaman) and faces the heftiest charges in the case, including terrorist murders. Ahmidan was one of seven suspects who blew themselves up in an apartment block weeks after the train bombings. Earlier this month, the government agreed to hand a judge papers about secret CIA flights that flew via Spain to transport terrorism suspects to third countries where investigators say they may have faced torture or abuse. When it declassified the papers on the "rendition" flights, the government said the judge should use the papers only for the investigation and treat the data with maximum protection, suggesting the information would not be made public.

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Europe

'Mastermind' of Madrid bombing goes on trial

2007-02-16

The man accused of masterminding Europe's worst Islamist terror attack took the stand yesterday as the trial opened in Madrid of 29 men accused over multiple train bombings in the Spanish capital on 11 March 2004. Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, known as "Mohamed the Egyptian" sat impassively facing three Spanish magistrates while an unprecedented charge list was read out. If convicted, he faces eighteen years jail for membership of a terrorist group, 30 years for each of the 191 people killed when multiple explosions ripped through four Madrid commuter trains; 18 years for each attempted murder of the 1,824 wounded, and a further eight years each for the unborn children of two pregnant women killed. If convicted, he faces eighteen years jail for membership of a terrorist group, 30 years for each of the 191 people killed when multiple explosions ripped through four Madrid commuter trains; 18 years for each attempted murder of the 1,824 wounded, and a further eight years each for the unborn children of two pregnant women killed. The figures brought home the massive scale of a massacrethat has left deep emotional and political scars in Spain. Speaking through his lawyer, Mr Osman denied all involvement: "I never had any relation to the events that occurred in Madrid. I condemn these attacks unconditionally," he said. "Lies! All lies!" The presiding magistrate, Javier Gomez Bermudez, clarified that, under Spanish law, Mr Osman would face a maximum of 40 years and not the potential 40,000 years sentence if found guilty. For the next five months, the trial will bring Spain face to face with the men accused of carrying out the country's worst atrocity in living memory. Pilar Manjon, who lost her son Daniel and has become a spokeswoman for other victims and their families, stood up and faced the accused as they filed into their armoured glass cage. "I looked them in the eye as I wanted them to know I was going to be their worst nightmare. They avoided my gaze," she said. Prosecutors argue the plot was the work of a home-grown Islamist cell inspired by al-Qa'ida, who sought to punish Spain for participating in the war in Iraq. But the three years of investigations summarised in hundreds of cardboard boxfiles lined up yesterday behind the judges will afford a painful reminder of past mistakes - and of just how easily a clutch of religious fanatics was able to exploit enormous security gaps in a country obsessed with combating terrorism.

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Europe

'Al-Qaeda chief' says he just drank tea with terrorists

2005-04-25

MADRID-The alleged leader of Al-Qaeda in Spain smiled and seemed at ease as he was cross-examined on the second day of a mass trial of alleged Islamic terrorists. Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, also known as ' Abu Dahdah ' only lost his composure when photographic evidence was prsented to the court. He is accused of organising a meeting where plans for the 9/11 attacks in the US were finalised and running an Al-Qaeda recruitment network since 1995. Abu Dahdah faces 60,000 years in jail if found guilty - 25 years for each murder on 9/11 to which he was allegedly linked. "I can't remember", "I don't know", "I have a very poor memory," the well-groomed 41-year-old, who describes himself as a businessman, told the court as a string of questions were put to him. He's been well schooled by his lawyers, no way to prove a bad memory. But when asked to explain the circumstances under which he was photographed firing a pistol, he was less sure of himself. Yarkas offered to tell the Judge the name of the friend he said had lent him the gun "but only to you, not publicly with all the journalists," he stipulated. "In Spain trials are public, if you don't want to give the name that's your right," the judge told him. Yarkas then declined to publicly reveal the name. The trial is the first to be shown live on satellite television in Spain, and judge Javier Gomez Bermudez asked the cameraman at one point to get better close ups on exhibits, while the faces of the accused were also subject to close scrutiny. Yarkas was unfailingly polite though sometimes combative when, in impeccable Spanish, he put the judge right on certain names or points of Muslim etiquette. He admitted having met two high-ranking Al-Qaeda officials whom he allegedly succeeded in 1995 after they left for Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the indictment one of them, Zein Al-Abidine Mohamed Hassan, alias ' Sheikh Salah ', welcomed recruits for 'holy war' sent out to Pakistan from Spain by Yarkas. The other, Mustafa Setmarian, allegedly ran Al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. Yarkas admitted "having tea together after leaving the mosque" in Madrid but denied any further knowledge of them and all charges put to him. Prosecutors plan to demand that Yarkas and two others suspected of links to the 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, each be sentenced to more than 60,000 years in prison -- 25 years for each life lost. Earlier, Luis Jose Galan, the only Spanish-born man amongst the 24 accused, being brought to the dock. He denied having been sent to a training camp in Indonesia by Abu Dahdah along with another man referred to as Parlin in July 2001. "Neither Abu Dahdah nor Parlin ever spoke to me about training, grenades or bombs. If they had I would have distanced myself from them," said the 39-year-old convert to Islam and former heroin addict. He seemed nervous, wiped his brow and asked for water as he explained his past as a radical left-winger and explained how he had gone to Indonesia with a view to moving there after losing his job with a Spanish transport company. Exhibits included photos of him at Madrid marches in support of Palestinians and Chechens. What, you didn't think the Spanish cops kept records on every demonstration? He said he had never been to any training camp and denounced all forms of violence. "Not only do I condemn the deaths of 3,000 people but even one death in New York, Gaza or Fallujah. He who dares take a life kills all humanity. I don't care whether his name is Bin Laden, Bush, Sharon or Putin," he said. The trial is expected to last two moths in a specially-built courtroom in a park on the outskirts of Madrid, where the defendants appear inside a bullet-proof glass cubicle.

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