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Europe

Confirmation: Qaeda Planned to Splinter Spain from Coalition

2004-03-16

EFL. Lots of good stuff about the investigation omitted from this post. Read the whole thing if youâre interested.
A document published months before national elections reveals al Qaeda planned to separate Spain from its allies by carrying out terror attacks. A December posting on an Internet message board used by al Qaeda and its sympathizers and obtained by CNN, spells out a plan to topple the pro-U.S. government. "We think the Spanish government will not stand more than two blows, or three at the most, before it will be forced to withdraw because of the public pressure on it," the al Qaeda document says. "If its forces remain after these blows, the victory of the Socialist Party will be almost guaranteed -- and the withdrawal of Spanish forces will be on its campaign manifesto."

Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Monday he wanted the 1,300 Spanish troops in Iraq to return home by June 30 if the United Nations "doesnât take control of Iraq." "I think Spainâs participation in the war has been a total error," he said.

Meanwhile, one of the five men arrested in connection with the bombings has links to the plotters of an al Qaeda-linked bombing in Casablanca last year, CNN has learned. The U.S. intelligence community is considering the possibility the bombings may have been carried out by a number of people with various ties to terrorist groups, the senior administration official said, adding theories include the following possibilities:

# Islamic fundamentalists with support from ETA;

# Islamic fundamentalists with close ties to al Qaeda, although not necessarily "card-carrying members of al Qaeda"; or,

# Members of ETA or al Qaeda.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was confident Spain would continue to play a significant role in the war on terrorism.

I'm confident Zapatero feels more comfortable communing with Fidel and Hugo. Just watch...

"Terrorism has to be defeated," he said. "I donât think the Spanish people are any more inclined to give any encouragement to terrorists or to give terrorists the slightest impression that they are not going to be engaged fully by the Spanish government -- no matter who is prime minister."

Wonder how long it'll be before Garzon is tossed...

Powell added that he was not sure if the Madrid bombings affected the outcome of Sundayâs elections: "But the one thing Iâm quite sure of is that Spanish people remain committed in the war against terrorists."
The vote came before the Spaniards had a chance to reflect on the consequences. The election should have been delayed a couple of weeks to let things sink in a bit. Too late now.

Powell's saying nice things in hopes of salvaging something out of the rubble...

Posted by:sludj

#4 I'd tend to pick door #1 - "Islamic fundamentalists with support from ETA". ETA is a small group, and they're red hot in Spain, so it's real hard (and dangerous) for them to pull off any big ops. Names and faces too well known.

The Islamists can pull off the op, but need logistical support, which ETA can supply. Possibly even the plan was from ETA, but I'd doubt it. I'd want my OWN plan, rather than taking somebody's word on "this will work".

And ETA has been training in AQ-related camps.

Congratulations: It's a monster.

Posted by: mojo 2004-3-16 6:22:24 PM

#3 The Spaniards will be fine. A few bad waves won't change the tide.

Posted by: Shipman 2004-3-16 5:57:24 PM

#2 Bjorn Staerk had that last week.

Wonder if it'll get play there.

Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-3-16 5:52:20 PM

#1 2 or 3? Ha! They didn't realize what cowards the Spanish people were. It only took 1.

Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2004-3-16 5:45:21 PM

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