ABU ZARQAWI knows no limits and many continents. Investigating the Hamburg cell after September 11, German authorities came across another terrorist group called al-Tawhid (unity), made up mainly of Palestinian militants trained in Zarqawi's Afghan camps. Tawhid operatives told investigators they got their start in Europe selling stolen and forged documents to militants traveling between the Middle East and Western Europe.
With the outbreak of war in Iraq, Tawhid converted its alien-smuggling and document-forgery ring into a two-way underground railroad between Western Europe and the Middle East. According to European press reports, networks in Spain, Italy, and Germany send recruits into Iraq via Syria. U.S. military officials in Iraq now blame the most heinous terrorist attacks on "the Zarqawi network." But Zarqawi's alien-smuggling system also dispatches Middle Eastern jihadis into Europe via Spain, Turkey, Italy, and Greece. In November 2003,
Italian wiretaps recorded two Tawhid operatives speaking of "the jihad part" and its "battalion of 25-26 units" of suicide bombers.
If Zarqawi's underground railroad demonstrates the terrorist uses of illegal immigration, the investigation into the Madrid bombings reveals new connections to Zarqawi every week. Zarqawi's lieutenant, a 36-year-old Moroccan named Amer el Azizi, planned the Madrid terror and is the living link between al Qaeda, the Zarqawi network, and the Moroccan immigrant cell that set the Madrid bombs. Azizi also organized and presided over the 2001 meeting in Spain where Mohammed Atta and al Qaeda leaders put the finishing touches on the September 11 plan.
Azizi fled Spain in November 2001 as Spanish authorities dismantled the al Qaeda logistics cell. He jetted to Afghanistan via Iran, where Zarqawi's cross-border networks helped him elude the coalition. While falling in with Zarqawi, Azizi kept an eye on Spain and his Moroccan colleagues, who managed to set off bombs in Casablanca in May 2003. Shortly before the Madrid 3/11 train bombings, Azizi left Iran via Turkey and slipped into Spain to witness the carnage firsthand. He is still at large.
PROBABLY THE MURKIEST and most intriguing feature of this man of many mysteries is the question of Zarqawi's relations with Osama bin Laden. Though he met with bin Laden in Afghanistan several times, the Jordanian never joined al Qaeda. Militants have explained that Tawhid was "especially for Jordanians who did not want to join al Qaeda." A confessed Tawhid member even told his interrogators that Zarqawi was "against al Qaeda." Shortly after 9/11, a fleeing Ramzi bin al-Shibh, one of the main plotters of the attacks, appealed to Tawhid operatives for a forged visa. He could not come up with ready cash. Told that he did not belong to Tawhid, he was sent packing and eventually into the arms of the Americans.
Zarqawi and bin Laden also disagree over strategy. Zarqawi allegedly constructed his Tawhid network primarily to target Jews and Jordan. This choice reflected both Zarqawi's Palestinian heritage and his dissent from bin Laden's strategy of focusing on the "far enemy"--the United States. In an audiotape released after the recent foiled gas attack in Amman, an individual claiming to be Zarqawi argued that the Jordanian Intelligence Services building was indeed the target, although no chemical attack was planned. Rather, he stated menacingly, "God knows, if we did possess [a chemical bomb], we wouldn't hesitate one second to use it to hit Israeli cities such as Eilat and Tel Aviv."
The Tawhid cell uncovered in Hamburg after 9/11 scouted Jewish targets, including businesses and synagogues. Zarqawi's operatives have been implicated in an attack on a Mombassa hotel frequented by Israeli tourists and an attempt to shoot down an Israeli jetliner. He is also suspected to have played a role in the Casablanca bombings of a Jewish community center and a Spanish social club. In February 2002, a Jordanian court sentenced him in absentia to 15 years' hard labor for his involvement in a failed plot to kill American and Israeli tourists at the turn of the millennium, a scheme coordinated with Abu Zubaydah, a top lieutenant of bin Laden. And another Jordanian court sentenced him, again in absentia, to death for the assassination of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley. Zarqawi is also the prime suspect in the August 2003 truck bombing of the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/094npvzg.asp?pg=2
CHRISTIANITY TODAY.com, Week of January 31, 2005 - ON THE RECORD: "'THERE CAN BE NO END TO JIHAD' Islamist Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, in an exclusive interview..." -Interview by Anthony McRoy (posted 02/01/2005)
MEMRI.org - MIDDLE EAST MEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE - Special Dispatch Series - No. 778: "LONDON CONVENTION WILL CELEBRATE 9/11" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that the extremist Islamic movement Al-Muhajiroun had announced a convention in London, titled "The Choice is in Your Hands: Either You're with the Muslims or with the Infidels," to mark the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The organization had planned a similar anniversary event a year ago, called "The Magnificent 19 [Suicide Attackers]," but had cancelled it at the last minute. The following is a summary of the report" (September 3, 2004) (Read More...)
groups.MSN.com/OxfordIslam: "from www.muhajiroun.com RALLY FOR ISLAM X Islam – The Future for Britain TRAFALGAR SQUARE - 25th July 2004 - 1pm to 6pm" -"rom: ali" (Original Message) "Sent: 6/28/2004 8:56 AM"
ICT.org.il: "THE BOMBING OF THE USS COLE" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Several militant groups have claimed responsibility for the blast but none so far has been credible. One of these was Jaish Mohammed (Mohammed’s Army), a name previously associated with a group known to be active only in Chechnya and Dagestan, in Russia. It is curious that the claim of responsibility was received by phone by Omar Bakri Mohammed, the leader of Al-Muhajiroun, a London based militant group known for his ties with bin Laden.[13] However, in December 1999 Jordan arrested 13 suspects thought to be linked to Osama bin Laden’s network and thus thwarted plans to carry out a series of attacks on Jordanian territory. The leader of the group, Khader Abu Ghoshar, and his 12 associates had received training in Afghanistan on the manufacture and handling of bombs. He set up a group called Jaish Mohammed, comprising veterans of the Afghan conflict, which was responsible for several explosions in Jordan.[14] It is possible that this, rather than the Chechnyan group, is the Jaish Mohammed claiming the attack on the Cole.") (October 24, 2000)
OBL's heir apparent. Evidence of cooperating with the Moroccan jihadists who probably organized the London attack. Sounds like Azizi is the defacto European theater commander.