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| Europe |
| Spain fears bad blood with Morocco may have caused intel lapse |
| 2004-03-18 |
| Spanish security sources said yesterday they believed that bad blood with Morocco caused a critical breakdown in communication over terrorists’ movements. Analysts fear that the centuries-old rivalry could further hamper the investigation into the Moroccan terrorist cell that appears to be behind last week’s bombings in Spain that killed 201 people. Yesterday they broadened the manhunt for a further 20 Moroccans thought to have entered Spain illegally after a string of suicide bomb attacks in Casablanca last May. But arguments between Morocco and Spain over the island of Perejil and other matters had seriously damaged co-ordination on known shared threats, according to security sources quoted in the newspaper El Mundo. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the prime minister-elect, has already pledged to improve relations with Morocco. The security services are examining the possibility that the attacks were organised by the Moroccan Combat Islamic Group, an organisation thought to have been founded in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1993 to which the main suspect so far arrested, Jamal Zougam, is thought to be connected. The spectre of a Moroccan jihad touches one of Spain’s most sensitive nerves. King Juan Carlos has publicly atoned for the expulsion of the Jews in 1492 but has refused to pay the same tribute to the Moors. In the 1920s, Spain conducted a brutal colonial campaign in the Rif Mountains of Morocco and the country still has two North African colonies, Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco claims. Relations between the two countries became further embittered during the centre-Right tenure of the defeated prime minister Jose Maria Aznar. They bickered over illegal immigration, fishing rights and drug trafficking. These disputes culminated in the invasion of the tiny island of Perejil by a handful of Moroccan gendarmes. They were ousted by Spanish special forces backed by frigates and submarines. Some Spaniards are convinced that the Madrid attacks were based not only on the war in Iraq but on Islam’s historic claim to Spain. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #6 Zhang Fei - from the "Zougam's been watched for some time article" above, ""Morocco informed the Spanish that he went to Spain and that he was a quite dangerous person," a Moroccan official in Rabat said Tuesday evening. "There was no evidence against him in Morocco, but they asked Spain to investigate him." " If thats true it looks like its the Spanish who dropped the ball on this. |
| Posted by: Dakotah 2004-3-18 12:40:41 PM |
| #5 it aint so! dean sez so...it was BUSH and iraq....the dem's sez so..this is pure propaganda...the muslims are peace loving and have to claims to any territory...it's all a lie...AND BUSH STOLE THE ELECTION SO IT HIS FAULT! |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-3-18 12:33:12 PM |
| #4 Spain fears bad blood with Morocco may have caused intel lapse Try this on for size, in the first days after 9/11: "US fears bad blood with Afghanistan may have caused intel lapse". The fact is that if Morocco knew about the plot, it was the Moroccan government's responsibility to inform Spain. It works like this - if someone knows that a murder is about to occur, he needs to inform the police that it is about to happen, before it happens - otherwise, he is criminally liable. This talk about bad blood is just another way of saying that Morocco passively conspired with the terrorists in order to put pressure on Spain over their territorial disputes. Will Zapatero cede Spanish territory to get this "cooperation"? Worse, was this an operation mounted by Moroccan intelligence, using al Qaeda's fingerprints? |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-3-18 9:57:53 AM |
| #3 They bickered over illegal immigration, fishing rights and drug trafficking. ..Some Spaniards are convinced that the Madrid attacks were based not only on the war in Iraq but on Islam’s historic claim to Spain Won't be a problem with Zappy in power, since he intends to do nothing to interfere with the any of these problems. ?Queso, seniors? |
| Posted by: B 2004-3-18 9:25:57 AM |
| #2 Now, about that bad blood with US intel... |
| Posted by: someone 2004-3-18 2:25:36 AM |
| #1 Boy, these Spanish queso-eating surrender monkeys don't waste any time! Looks like that bug-eyed vampire Zapatero can't wait to "make peace" with Morocco, too! Would you like Gibraltar, por favor? I'm sure Britain won't mind! |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-3-18 1:54:07 AM |