The Associated Press
Saturday, March 13, 2004; 12:06 PM
Possible al-Qaida Link Found in Attack
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55626-2004Mar13.html MOLDE, Norway - Norwegian researchers have found documents that could
link the al-Qaida network to terror bombings that killed 200 people in
Madrid, Spain.
Experts from the government's Norwegian Defense Research Establishment
said the documents found on an Arabic-language Web site last year
suggest Spain as a possible terror target because the country had been
part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
"We must make maximum use of the proximity to the elections in Spain in
March next year. Spain can stand a maximum of two or three attacks
before they will withdraw from Iraq," the documents said, according to
daily newspaper VG.
A series of bombs hidden in backpacks exploded in quick succession
Thursday, blowing apart four commuter trains and killing at least 200
people and wounding more than 1,400 in the Spanish capital. The attacks
occurred ahead of Sunday's national elections.
Researcher Thomas Hegghammer told the paper the researchers first
thought the 42-page document referred to attacks against coalition
forces in Iraq.
"But the fact that they specifically mention the election in Spain,
makes us have to see this in the light of the action in Madrid, three
days before the election," Hegghammer said.
Norwegian Defense Research Establishment spokeswoman Anne-Lisa Hammer
told The Associated Press the researchers would not speak to journalists
Saturday, but added that the Norwegian reports were accurate.
State broadcaster NRK said the documents do not refer to Thursday's
attacks in Madrid but outline a strategy to pressure Spain, described as
the weakest link in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, to stop cooperating
with the United States.
"The author, who is anonymous, is very well-oriented in Spanish
politics. We cannot say for sure that this document stems from al-Qaida.
We don't have any reason, either, to believe that it isn't real,"
researcher Brynjar Lia told VG.
The document suggests attacks on Spain would lead to the collapse of the
fragile Iraq coalition set up by the United States if they forced Spain
to withdraw.
Spanish officials blame the attacks on Basque separatists from the group
ETA, which denied responsibility. An Islamic group linked with suspected
al-Qaida links has claimed blame in a statement telefaxed to an Arabic
newspaper in London.
I think you're looking for this AP report:
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/03/14/ap/Headlines/d81adam80.txt AP: Madrid Suspect Linked to 9/11 Figure
By ANDREW SELSKY
MADRID, Spain - One of the three Moroccans arrested in the Madrid train bombings is linked to a man jailed in Spain for allegedly helping plan the Sept. 11 attack in the United States, according to court documents reviewed by The Associated Press. It was the latest suggestion that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist group may have been involved in the bombings.
A Sept. 17, 2003 indictment named Jamal Zougam, 30, as a "follower" of Imad Yarkas, who was jailed for allegedly helping plan the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Zougam has been arrested in the Madrid bombings. Yarkas, who has used the alias Abu Dahdah, remains in Spanish custody.
The indictment, led by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, showed police had searched Zougam's home twice. One search turned up a video of mujaheddin fighters in Dagestan, Russia.
Zougam is one of three Moroccans and two Indians arrested in the Thursday attacks, which killed 200 people and wounded 1,500. Officials said phones were apparently used as detonators on the 10 bombs that tore through four rush-hour trains.
Zougam was one of thousands of Moroccans put under surveillance by authorities after May terrorist bombings in the coastal city of Casablanca that killed 33 people and 12 bombers, a Moroccan official said on condition of anonymity.
European intelligence agencies were also working Sunday to identify a purported al-Qaida operative who claimed in a videotape that the terror group bombed trains in Madrid to punish Spain's backing of the U.S.-led war against Iraq.
The tape was discovered in a trash bin near Madrid's largest mosque on the eve of Spain's general elections Sunday. An Arabic-speaking man called a Madrid TV station to say the tape was there, Spain's Interior Ministry said.
"You love life and we love death," said the man on the tape, who wore Arab dress and spoke Arabic with a Moroccan accent.
The man said the taped claim of responsibility for the bombing of four commuter trains came from "the military spokesman for al-Qaida in Europe, Abu Dujan al Afghani."
The Interior Ministry released details about its contents, and intelligence agents were trying to identify the man, verify his claims and establish who Abu Dujan al Afghani is.
"Our reservations about the credibility remain," Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes said Sunday.
In France, which has combated Islamic terrorism for years, an intelligence official said the name al Afghani is likely a pseudonym. The name al Afghani could mean the person is of Afghan origin or has some association with the country.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said it was too early to say if al-Qaida was responsible.
Two Spaniards of Indian origin have also been detained for questioning.
One of the Moroccans had already been under surveillance since last May, when suicide bombings in Casablanca against Jewish and Spanish targets
Zougam faces no formal charges in Morocco. The Casablanca bombings were blamed on Salafia Jihadia, a secretive, radical Islamic group suspected of links to al-Qaida.
The other two Moroccan suspects, Mohamed Bekkali, 31, a mechanic, and Mohamed Chaoui, a worker, 34, have no police record at home, the official said.
The Spanish interior minister, however, said three of the suspects had previous records, and one was under investigation for suspected participation in murder. He earlier had said that one suspect might also have connections with Moroccan extremist groups. He gave no further details.
The interior ministry identified the two Indian suspects as Vinay Kohly and Suresh Kumar.
The five were arrested after a cell phone and prepaid card were found in an explosives-filled gym bag on one of the bombed trains.
Friends of the Moroccans said the Madrid store where they worked sold cell phones but they insisted that the men would not have been involved in planning or carrying out the attacks.
"People shouldn't be put in jail for selling cell phones. They are hard workers," said Karim, who works in a phone shop near the now-shuttered store where the arrested Moroccans worked. Karim did not want to give his last name.
Police searched five properties overnight, Acebes said.
Authorities have been tracking Islamic extremist activity in Spain since the mid-1990s and say it was an important staging ground, along with Germany, for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Associated Press writer John Leicester in Madrid and Nicolas Marmie in Rabat, Morocco, contributed to this report.