Spain, The Most Important Target of Al Qaeda

Prof Dr Colonel (Retired) K Prabhakar Rao

Spain an important and ancient European nation that played very important role in world affairs and growth of civilization is very close to North West African country Morocco and is separated by very narrow Straits of Gibraltar. The Straits connect Mediterranean Sea to Atlantic Ocean. It is a strategic nation in Iberian Peninsula.

Beginning in the ninth century BC, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Celts entered the Iberian Peninsula. The Romans followed in the second century BC and laid the groundwork for Spain's present language, religion, and laws. Although the Visigoths arrived in the fifth century AD, the last Roman strongholds along the southern coast did not fall until the seventh century AD. In 711, North African Moors sailed across the straits, swept into Andalusia, and within a few years, pushed the Visigoths up the peninsula to the Cantabrian Mountains. The Re –conquest efforts to drive out the Moors--lasted until 1492. By 1512, the unification of present-day Spain was complete. During the 16th century, Spain became the most powerful nation in Europe, due to the immense wealth derived from its presence in the Americas. But a series of long, costly wars and revolts, capped by the defeat by the English of the "Invincible Armada" in 1588, began a steady decline of Spanish power in Europe. Controversy over succession to the throne consumed the country during the 18th century, leading to an occupation by France during the Napoleonic era in the early 1800s and a series of armed conflicts throughout much of the 19th century.

After the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, President Aznar became a key ally in the fight against terrorism. Spain backed the military action against the Taliban in Afghanistan and took a leadership role within the European Union (EU) in pushing for increased international cooperation on terrorism. The Aznar government, with a rotating seat on the UN Security Council, supported the intervention in Iraq and has participated in the war. This has also become one of the strong reasons for targeting Spain by Al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda’s supreme leader and internationally most sought after criminal and terrorist, Osama Bin Laden has recently issued a call for reoccupation of Spain that is claimed as the lost land of Islam. “We will not be in peace until we set our foot again in our beloved al-Andalus," al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said on claiming responsibility for an attack which killed at least 24 people in Algiers on Wednesday, April 11, 2007.Al-Andalus is the Moorish name for Spain, parts of which were ruled by Muslims for about eight centuries until the last Moorish bastion, Granada, succumbed to the Christian Reconquest in 1492. This automatically put Spaniards on guard (1). Anti-terrorism judge Baltasar Garzon warned, cautioning that Spain was at a "very high risk" of suffering in Islamist attack”. Spaniards are therefore much concerned.

AlQaeda has targeted North African nations such as Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Sahara and Sudan that cover the entire northern African belt apart from Egypt and Libya. It is operating its terrorist cells in these countries and has already formed a well connected base and well co coordinated net work. Terrorist strikes and suicide missions are common in these countries (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) . These activities are considered as the sinister preparations for more intense attacks on Spain which is being claimed by AlQaeda. The bloodbath in Algiers could launch a new string of attacks in Northern Africa and Europe, including Spain, terrorism expert Fernando Reinares warned. Al-Qaeda is extending its activities in Northern Africa, where the Algiers bombings were preceded by the suicides of three Moroccan Islamists who blew themselves up to avoid being captured by police. The Algerian-based al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), intends to federate North African Islamist cells under a common umbrella. Such announcements worry the security services in Spain. It has witnessed train bombings in 2004 in Madrid. Mainly 29Moroccan suspects are on trial for these Madrid train bombings that killed 191 and injured about 1,800 people. In a videotape discovered after the blasts, a man identifying himself as an al-Qaeda functionary offered a blunt quid pro quo: "If you do not stop your collaboration, more and more blood will flow." Al Qaeda has targeted Spain for the reason that it is collaborating with USA. It claims that Spain is full of Jews, ill clad women and commerce that are against Islamic traditions. Therefore it deserved punishing by Jihadists.

According to the Spanish judiciary, a loose group of Moroccan, Syrian, and Algerian Muslims inspired by al-Qaeda and two Guardia Civil and Spanish police informants are suspected of having carried out the attacks. As of 11 April 2006, Judge Del Olmo charged 29 suspects for their involvement in the train bombings. No evidence has been found of Al-Qaeda involvement, although an al-Qaeda claim was made the day of the attacks by the Hafs al-Masri Abu Brigades. Though, U.S. officials note that this group is "notoriously unreliable". On August 2007, Al-Qaeda claimed to be "proud" about the Madrid 2004 bombings .According to The Independent, "Those who invented the new kind of rucksack bomb used in the attacks are said to have been taught in training camps in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, under instruction from members of Morocco's radical Islamist Combat Group." According to the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), the attack was carried out by individuals associated with the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group with the backing of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM). Islamist radicals in Spain proselytize at an estimated 10 per cent of it’s hundreds of unofficial mosques, which operate in garages, basements and the like. Thus home breeding of terrorists in the country is becoming important factor in spreading of terrorism in this European nation.
( 7). Spain has become an important base for the recruitment of suicide bombers who are sent to Iraq, according to press reports. Some of the fighters are believed to be trained in new al-Qaeda camps in Sahel countries such as Mali, Niger or Mauritania.

Spain does not have a special antiterrorism law. The Criminal Code (Código Penal, CP) defines terrorism offenses. The Code of Criminal Procedure (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal, LEC) establishes the powers of law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities in investigating crimes of terrorism, while at the same time proscribing the rights of terrorist suspects. These special measures derive from Article 55(2) of the Constitution that allows for the suspension of the rights with respect to length of detention, privacy of the home, and secrecy of communications “as regards specific persons in connection with investigations of the activities of armed bands or terrorist groups.”

Article 571 of the Criminal Code defines terrorists as “those who belonging, acting in the service of or collaborating with armed groups, organizations or groups whose objective is to subvert the constitutional order or seriously alter public peace” commit the attacks described in Article 346 (attacks on buildings or transportation or communications infrastructure with the use of explosive devices) and Article 351 (arson causing risk of injury or death). The article does not criminalize the mere act of belonging to such a group, but rather the commission of criminal acts by members of these groups with the above-mentioned goals. Articles 572-579 establish the minimum and maximum prison sentences for different crimes when committed by members of the above-defined armed groups or those acting on their behalf. Article 580 allows Spanish courts to consider foreign convictions for activities related to armed groups as equivalent to convictions under Spanish law to enable citing recidivism as an aggravating factor. The principle features of Spain’s counter-terrorism provisions are the extended period of detention in police custody allowed before the prisoner must be brought before a judge, and the use of incommunicado detention. Whereas the Code of Criminal Procedure (LEC) establishes that all persons arrested must be brought before a competent judge within seventy-two hours of the arrest, those detained on suspicion of membership or collaboration with an armed group (including terrorist organizations) may be held for an additional forty-eight hours. This means that terrorism suspects may be under police custody for five days before being seen by a judge (8). Thus we see that Spain is pursuing some hard policies to deal with terrorists on its soil.

The important point to note is that Spain has to guard itself from rising growth of home bred terrorists on its own soil. The country was ruled by Moors for almost seven centuries there by intermingling with the culture of the soil. Many European Muslims of Spanish origin have come up in the country over centuries of Muslim rule. Although Islamic rule was driven away from Spain, Muslims are still there in large numbers. They are part of the society and nation. It is this community (If not all, but some) who would breed terrorism and abet its growth. They would connive with foreign terrorist outfits such as those operating in Algeria and Morocco that are next door. These are Hafs al-Masri Abu Brigades, GSPC, Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group and many others. Their involvement from behind the scene is established. In certain extent, the situation in Spain is similar to India where certain misguided Islamic terrorist outfits claim India as the land of Islam as Muslims conqured India in the past and ruled for centuries. Therefore, they claim Jihad against India is appropriate to liberate Islamic land. So is Spain as per AlQaeda. A section of Muslims in India are abetting terrorism and chaos and instability and so is in Spain. It is always difficult to fight inner internal enemies than external enemies. Inner enemies sabotage the nation staying in the country, and planning treason undetected. Spain is in similar situation to day. Western nations that are targets of terrorism must continue pressuring the state sponsors of terror. Qaddafi's about-face, Musharraf crackdown on the Pakistani bomb trade, popular rumblings in Syria and Iran, are all hopeful signs. State sponsorship is a vital issue, because 9/11, Bali, and Madrid were horrible; a plague or a nuke in London or Los Angeles would be catastrophic. To fight the branch offices of terror, they must be as adaptable as the enemy — hunting them down wherever they are. The Jihadists believe they will win because, unlike their enemies, who love life, they welcome death (9). Others love life, and love search-and-destroy. President George W Bush and his allies are doing the same and the hunt for the terrorists should continue unabated with ruthless force and ferocity. These elements have to be ruthlessly pursued, hunted down and annihilated by Spain to protect the country from Islamisation. There is a proverb that even God can not catch an enemy within the house. Spain has to remember this and plan accordingly and first eliminate internal terrorists. Secondly it should continue co operating with West in the war on terror.

Bibliography

1.Sinikka Tarvanian. Alarm in Spain over al-Qaeda call for its "reconquest" , Thursday, 12 April, 2007 http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:4SxD1DmXekUJ:eux.tv/article.aspx%3FarticleId%3D6283+
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2. Prof Dr Colonel ( Retired) K Prabhakar Rao, Algerians on the path of Terrorism, , www.faithcommons.org, July 06, 2007, 19:41

3 Prof Dr Colonel (Retired) K Prabhakar Rao, Tunisia and AlQaeda inspired terrorism. www.faithcommons.org, August 25, 2007, 19:16

4 Prof Dr Colonel (Retired) K Prabhakar Rao, Sahara the paradise for AlQaeda, www.faithcommons.org, July 15, 2007, 18:14

5. Prof Dr Colonel (Retired) K Prabhakar Rao, Sudan hand in glove with Terrorism. www.faithcommons.org, May 27, 2007, 10:42

6. Prof Dr Colonel (Retired) K Prabhakar Rao, Morocco and Terrorism. www.faithcommons.org, September 15, 2007, 15:31

7. 2004 Madrid train bombings, Wikepedia, http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:NxZL2NdrNgEJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Madrid_train_bombings

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8. Counter terrorism measures in Spain, http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:OQsLoyTVJ-kJ:hrw.org/reports/2005/spain0105/5.htm
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9. NR Editors, A defeat in Spain, March 18, 2004, http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:YxsIj3ORdmoJ:www.nationalreview.

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