MADRID — A Spaniard who was held at Guantanamo Bay has been jailed for six years in his own country for his links to Al-Qaeda.| But, I thought all the prisoners in Gitmo were innocent victims of the Bush/Haliburton war machine? |
Born in Ceuta, Spain's North African enclave, Ahmed was linked to an Al-Qaeda cell which was disbanded in November 2001 after the US invasion of Afghanistan. The cell was led by Imad Eddin Barakat, known as Abu Dahdah, the Syrian-born naturalised Spaniard who was jailed for 27 years last week for belonging to Al-Qaeda and conspiring with others to plan the 9/11 attacks on the US. Ahmed was recruited by Abu Dahdah and another Al Qaeda operative in Spain and in 2001 he travelled to Iran, then on to Afghanistan. Taped telephone calls used in evidence helped to convicted Ahmed of belonging to this cell. The court was told he planned to be start military training and fight for jihad. He had planned to join the holy war in Chechnya, but was unable to owing to the US intervention in Afghanistan. He was captured by US forces and sent to Guantanamo Bay.