VISAS VIPER SUBMISSION

UNCLAS MADRID 002236 SIPDIS VISAS VIPER DEPT FOR CA/VO/L/C AND INR/IC/TIPOFF E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CVIS KVPR PTER ASEC CMGT PINR PREL SP SUBJECT: VISAS VIPER SUBMISSION REF: MADRID 01233 ¶1. POST WISHES TO SUBMIT AND/OR UPDATE THE FOLLOWING NAMES AND INFORMATION TO CLASS IN ACCORDANCE WITH VIPER PROCEDURES: ¶2. DAILY SPANISH PRESS OF JUNE 9, 2004 AND SUBSEQUENT DAYS REPORTED THAT THE ITALIAN POLICE ARRESTED THE ALLEGED RADICAL ISLAMIST RABEI OSMAN SAYED AHMED, ALIAS: "MOHAMED EL EGYPCIO" - "MOHAMED THE EGYPTIAN" IN AN APARTMENT IN MILAN, ITALY. THE POLICE ALSO ARRESTED YAHIA PAYUNI, A PALESTINIAN WHO SHARED THE APARTMENT WITH RABEI OSMAN, WHO WAS BEING INDOCTRINATED TO THE "YIHAD". THE ARREST FOLLOWED A THREE-MONTH PROBE BY ITALY'S ANTI-TERRORIST UNIT AND ITALIAN INTELLIGENCE IN COLLABORATION WITH SPANISH, FRENCH AND BELGIUM POLICE. AS PART OF RABEI OSMAN RECORDED CONVERSATIONS AND TELEPHONE CALLS, HE CLAIMED TO BE THE MASTERMIND OF MADRID'S TRAIN BOMBINGS. HE WAS ALSO PREPARING TERRORIST ATTACKS IN THE METRO SUBWAY OF PARIS, FRANCE. THE SPANISH NATIONAL COURT WILL NOW REQUEST RABEI OSMAN'S EXTRADITION. ¶3. NAME: OSMAN SAYED AHMED, RABEI - ALIAS: "MOHAMED EL EGYPCIO" "MOHAMED THE EGYPTIAN" - GENDER: MALE - DPOB: JULY 22, 1971, EGYPT - CLASS: POSITIVE ¶4. RABEI OSMAN PURSUED STUDIES OF CIVIL ENGINEERING IN EGYPT AND SERVED IN THE EGYPTIAN ARMY IN THE RANK OF A SOLDIER FOR THREE YEARS, WHERE HE ACQUIRED SOME KNOWLEDGE OF EXPLOSIVES AND DEMOLITION TECHNIQUES. IN 1993, HE LEFT EGYPT AND TRAVEL TO SUDAN AND SAUDI ARABIA, WHERE HE ALLEGEDLY RECEIVED TERRORIST MILITARY TRAINING IN AN AL-QAEDA CAMP. RABEI OSMAN ALSO TRAVELLED TO AFGHANISTAN AND BECAME AN EXPERT IN EXPLOSIVES. IN JANUARY 2001, HE CAME TO SPAIN WHERE HE RESIDED UNTIL FEB. 27, 2003 THAT HE TRAVELLED TO FRANCE AND LATER TO ITALY. IN SPAIN HE WORKED AS A PAINTER AND BECAME WELL KNOWN IN THE RADICAL ISLAMIST GROUPS OF THE MADRID'S MOSQUE. THE SPANISH POLICE INVESTIGATED HIM, AND SPANISH JUDGE BALTASAR GARZON, IN CHARGE OF THE INVESTIGATIONS ON AL-QAEDA NETWORK IN SPAIN, INCLUDED HIM IN A JUDICIAL INDICTMENT AS A LEADER OF A RADICAL GROUP LINKED TO THAT ORGANIZATION. DURING HIS STAY IN SPAIN, RABEI OSMAN WAS CLOSELY RELATED TO SOME OF THE INDIVIDUALS LATER ARRESTED FOR THE MADRID'S M-11 ATTACKS WHO HELPED HIM IN THE RECRUITMENT OF RADICAL ISLAMIST FOR HIS TERRORIST CELL, FOUAD EL MORABIT AMGHAR, DPOB: SEP. 3, 1975, MOROCCO, ELECTRONIC ENGINEER, ACCUSED OF COLLABORATION WITH A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, AND BASEL GHAYOUN, DPOB: FEB. 25, 1980, SYRIA, ACCUSED OF PARTICIPATION IN THE ATTACKS. (BOTH PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED IN REFTEL) SPANISH INVESTIGATORS LEARNED OF HIS PRESENT LOCATION IN ITALY THROUGH THEIR DECLARATIONS AT COURT. RABEI OSMAN WAS ALSO CLOSELY RELATED TO THE ALLEGED LEADER AND COORDINATOR OF THE MADRID'S TERRORIST ATTACKS, SERHANE BEN ABDELMAJID, ALIAS "THE TUNISIAN" WHO DIED WITH SOME OTHER TERRORISTS IN THE MADRID'S APARTMENT BLAST. ¶5. NAME: PAYUNI, YAHIA - GENDER: MALE - DPOB: 21 YEARS OLD, UNKNOWN (PALESTINIAN) - CLASS: NEGATIVE - DISCIPLE OF RABEI OSMAN IN THE RADICAL ISLAMIST DOCTRINE KNOWN AS THE "TAKFIR WAL HIJRA" THAT PREACHES THE FIGHT AGAINST NON-BELIEVERS AND POLITHEISTICS. HIS GRADE OF INVOLVEMENT IN TERRORIST ACTIVITIES HAS NOT YET BEEN DETERMINED. MANZANARES