| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Spain Arrests Five More Al Qaeda Suspects |
| 2003-09-18 |
| Spanish police arrested five people of Syrian origin on Thursday for suspected ties to al Qaeda, including a highly trained guerrilla prepared to commit a major suicide attack, police sources said. Syrians, huh? Guess all the Algerians and Yemenis were booked. A separate source involved in the investigation said some of the suspects were linked to a journalist for Arab TV network Al Jazeera who is already charged in Spain with belonging to the militant group led by wealthy Saudi exile Osama bin Laden. The arrests came a day after Spanish High Court judge Baltasar Garzon formally charged bin Laden, the journalist Tayseer Alouni and 33 others with "belonging to a terrorist group." Alouni strongly denies any wrongdoing. "Lies, all lies!" The latest arrests also came on the orders of Garzon, who has been investigating suspected al Qaeda members for years and ordered his first batch of September 11-related arrests two months after the attacks on New York and Washington. He’s been a very busy judge. The anti-terrorist police source said there were two arrests in Granada in southern Spain, where Alouni lived and was arrested earlier this month, two in Madrid and one in Alicante in the east of Spain. The man arrested in Alicante was identified as Sadeq Merizak, said to have achieved "third level" status within al Qaeda, the same as September 11 lead hijacker Mohammed Atta, the source said. "Third level" members get the special decoder ring and use of the time-share condo in Islamabad. He said Merizak had trained at al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. Well, who didn’t? He also said authorities had photographs of Merizak with Imad Eddim Barakat Yarkas, also known as Abu Dahdah, currently in jail awaiting trial as the suspected al Qaeda cell leader in Spain and formally charged with a role in September 11. "Abu? Never heard of him." "Oh, really? Then explain this photo of you with him." "That’s not me, it’s somebody else." One of the men arrested in Granada was found with false documents belonging to Senmaran Nasser, whom the police source said was one of the most wanted leaders of al Qaeda. Oops! All five of the latest men arrested were due to appear in court on Sunday. All tremble before the Spanish Inquisition! |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 No "comfy chair" with THAT Spanish Inquisition, I bet. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-9-18 9:43:03 PM |
| #1 Spain's been rolling them up pretty quickly, wonder if it's all that experience with the Basque ETA? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-9-18 12:44:34 PM |