Europe Features

Spain fears Islamists reclaiming 'al-Andalus'

By Sinikka Tarvainen Mar 7, 2007, 12:28 GMT

Madrid - While the international spotlight is on 29 suspects on trial for the 2004 Madrid train bombings, Spanish police are working behind the scenes to counter a growing threat of new attacks. Radicals inspired by al-Qaeda have stepped up propaganda and recruitment activities in Spain, a country they claim as a part of the Islamic world because of its Muslim past, according to police experts. Extremists present in Spain no longer come just from North Africa, but also from Pakistan. Spain has become one of the main bases for the recruitment of suicide bombers, some of whom are trained at new al-Qaeda bases in Africa's Sahel zone before they are sent to Iraq. The ongoing Madrid bombings trial has given a face to Islamist terrorism as Spaniards have watched one suspect after another take the stand, from bearded fundamentalists to young men with an apparently Western lifestyle. After questioning the suspects, the court is currently hearing police experts and other witnesses. Ten bombs that exploded on four Madrid commuter trains killed 191 and injured nearly 2,000 people in March 2004, suddenly placing Islamists on top of the security agenda, ahead of the armed Basque separatist group ETA. Two groups are suspected of involvement in the attacks: the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) and the extremely radical Tafkir Wal Hijra, which is of Egyptian origin. Such groups do not form part of a hierarchical structure, but heed messages emanating from al-Qaeda and act on their own. Arab activists are believed to cooperate with Pakistanis making money transfers on their behalf. Pakistani radicals are active especially in the north-eastern Catalonia region, where police have detected the presence of Asian groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET). The JEM has been implicated in the 2005 bombings in the London transport network, while the LET is linked with attacks in India. Police are investigating whether the Arabs and Pakistanis have contacts with Chechen Muslims, large numbers of whom reportedly arrived in Spain in 2006. Islamist radicals proselytize at an estimated 10 per cent of Spain's hundreds of unofficial mosques, which operate in garages, basements and the like. Fighters recruited in Spain are no longer trained only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in Sahel countries such as Mali, Niger and Mauritania, where al-Qaeda and its allies teach them to handle weapons, explosives and even poisons, according to the daily El Pais. The young men then travel to conflict zones such as Iraq, where one of the Madrid train bombers is believed to have died in a suicide attack in 2005. Those who are not killed in Iraq or are unable to enter the country sometimes return to Spain, where they constitute one of the potentially most dangerous groups, according to police sources. The Madrid bombers targeted Spain partly to punish the then government for its participation in the Iraq war. Spain has changed its Atlanticist foreign policy since then, but the presence of its troops in Afghanistan and its judicial crackdowns on Islamists keep it on al-Qaeda-inspired hit lists. Islamist websites have also long called for a reconquest of al- Andalus, a Moorish name for Spain, parts of which were ruled by Muslims for nearly eight centuries until 1492. Recently, some websites have also begun campaigning for the 'liberation' of the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the Moroccan coast, causing concern among police experts. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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Spain needs to wake up and be realistic.Mar 7th, 2007 - 16:18:43

Here are some suggestions for the spineless politicians in Madrid.

1. Outlaw islam and reclassisy it as a hostile, political cult posing as a religion determined to overthrow every democratic government on this planet.

2. Close the nations borders to all immigrants-except to ETHNIC Europeans.
No more of that garbage from North Africa and the middle east.

3. DEPORT every muslim now residing in Spain to their choice of islamic preference with a paid 1-way ticket.

4. REINSTATE THE DEATH PENALTY IN SPAIN AND ALL OF EUROPE FOR ALL FUTURE BOMBERS WHO MURDER CIVILIANS.

Now, the voters just have to vote in some leaders who will follow something like this in order to protect the nation.
Remove islam from Spain and you simply remove the problem.
Islam is a cancer and must be cut out.
Problem solved for Spain and all nations of the world suffering from the muslim menace.

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BeelzebubMar 7th, 2007 - 20:14:51

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! You are right though.

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GooseMar 8th, 2007 - 08:07:36

'Spain needs to wake up and be realistic.'

I hate it but in the absense of a better idea its all we have, shame the otherside don't want peace.

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BeelzebubMar 8th, 2007 - 21:20:57

Oh, sure, they want peace - the kind of peace that arises when everyone else is either converted, dead, and all the other factions of their own group are wiped out too.

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They pick on the scared and week.Mar 9th, 2007 - 19:14:16

So I guess caving in and voting for whomever al gueda insists you vote for is not an effective way of dealing with the problem, Eh Spain?

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GooseMar 12th, 2007 - 03:20:33

'They pick on the scared and week.'

Hehe, your entirely correct, first spain folds and Quada attack anyway. Pak thought it could humor and let em play if Afghanistan, but now shit is blowing up all over their country. Lesson....they dont keep their words, and who didnt see that coming?

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