SPANISH POLICE DISRUPT AL-ZARQAWI SUPPORT NETWORK

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 002340

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT PASS TO EUR/WE
L/LEI
S/CT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2015
TAGS: PTER PGOV SP PINR
SUBJECT: SPANISH POLICE DISRUPT AL-ZARQAWI SUPPORT NETWORK

REF: MADRID 2223

Classified By: Political Counselor Kathy Fitzpatrick for reasons 1.4 (B
) and (D)


1. (U) Spanish police arrested 16 suspected Islamic
terrorists early June 15 in two related operations involving
over 500 police officers. The arrests took place in Madrid,
Catalunia, Andalucia, Levante and Ceuta; with 13 of those
detained being natives of Morocco, two others from Algeria
and one whose origin is undetermined. Of those arrested, 11
are believed to be linked to the al-Zarqawi terrorist
network, while the remaining five are linked to the March 11,
2004 attacks in Madrid. In a related announcement, Spanish
Ministry of Interior officials said that they believe Mohamed
Afalah, a fugitive suspect in the March 11th bombings,
"presumably" committed a suicide attack in Iraq between May
12-19.


2. (U) The 11 suspects linked to al-Zarqawi constituted an
Islamic support network affiliated with Ansar al-Islam that
aimed to recruit radicals willing to commit suicide attacks
against coalition forces in Iraq. The group, reportedly
headed by Samir Tahtah and seconded by Yagoub Guemereg,
allegedly sent terrorists to Iraq, via Syria, using the
internet to coordinate movements with members of Ansar Al
Islam. Of the 11 arrested, three are believed to have been
involved in recruitment while the remainder engaged in petty
crimes (such as drug trafficking, robbery and the sale of
false documents) to raise money for the network. The names
of these 11 suspects are: Samir Tahtah; Yagoub Guemereg;
Abadelbarie Dahane; Fouad Dkikar; Mustafa Filali; Omar
Boulaich Lyazidi; Mostafa Roumane; Ahmed Assas; Faruk Abidi;
Tarek Hamed Hamu; and Latif Hamed Hamu. All of these
suspects, with the exception of Yagoub Guemereg (Algerian),
are of Moroccan descent.


3. (U) Five people were arrested in connection to the March
11th attacks in Madrid; four of them charged with assisting
Mohamed Afalah, a major participant in the attacks, to flee
Spain. The press reports the identities of these four as:
Mohamed El Idrissi (Moroccan),Asan Amrani Boukhobza
(Moroccan),Abdenneri Essebar (Algerian) and Driss "El Gordo"
(real name and nationality unknown). The remaining suspect,
Mohamed Larbi Ben Sellam (Moroccan),is considered one of the
major players in the March 11th attacks and will be one of
only nine suspects in the case that will face mass murder
charges for each of the 191 people who died. The remaining
suspects in the March 11th case, more than 100 in all, all
face lesser charges, to include membership in a terrorist
organization.


4. (U) Interior Ministry officials released a statement
outlining the route that Mohamed Afalah used to travel from
Spain to Iraq, where they believe he executed a suicide
attack against coalition forces. Ministry officials believe
that Afalah fled from Spain to Belgium after the March 11th
attacks, where he stayed with first Mimoun and Yousef
Belhadj, then Mourad Chabarou (aka Mohamed Rey) and finally
with "Mohamed the Egyptian", who is detained in Italy for his
connection to the March 11th attacks. Afalah then reportedly
traveled to Syria, enroute to Iraq, and is presumed to have
died in a suicide attack on coalition forces sometime between
May 12-19. Ministry officials base this presumption on
intercepted telephone calls between Afalah and his father in
which he expressed his desire to become a martyr.

COMMENTS


5. (C) These arrests represent the Spanish government's
continuing crackdown on Islamic terrorism within its borders,
as represented by the fact that over 100 suspected Islamic
terrorists have been arrested in the past 12 months. In
addition, these operations take place against the backdrop of
the first major trial of alleged Islamic terrorists in Spain
(see reftel on the trial of alleged al-Qa'ida member Barakat
Yarkas),which will serve as a test of the Spanish judicial
system's ability to successfully prosecute this type of
crime. The large numbers of Islamic defendants being taken
into custody in regard to terrorist activities could place a
strain on the Spanish judicial system, which sets a time
limit of four years from the time of detention to trial.
Spanish authorities have demonstrated great skill in
disrupting Islamic terrorist organizations and, in the
Barakat Yarkas trial, now face their greatest challenge in
prosecuting Islamic terrorist suspects.

MANZANARES