| Wednesday, July 13, 2005 |
| EUROPE'S WAR ON TERRORISM |
A sliver of good news from across the Atlantic: things could be much worse. Since the 2004 bombings in Madrid, authorities across the Continent have ramped up counterteroristm efforts, making hundreds of arrests and foiling several large-scale plots.
Here's a rundown of some notable successes.
1). BRITAIN -- British authorities charged eight citizen last August with conspiracy to launch chemical attacks. One suspect, Dhiren Barot, a purported senior al-Qaeda frontman in Britain, allegedly possessed reconnaissance plans of four U.S. financial institutions that were the forces of a U.S. terrorism alert earlier this month.
2). GERMANY -- An Iraqi suspected al-Qaeda member, identified only as Ibrahim Mohamed K. was arrested in the city of Mainz in January for allegedly planning a suicide attacks in Iraq. Authorities say he also tried to buy uranium in Luxembourg.
3). ITALY -- In June 2004 police arrested Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, a.k.a. Mohamed, the Egyptian, in Milan. Ahmed had made calls to radical contacts elsewhere in Europe, boasting he as the mastermind of the Madrid strikes.
4). TURKEY -- Sixteen suspected members of Ansar-al-Islam, a group of linked to al-Qaeda, were arrested by Turkish police is Bursa in April 2004 for allegedly preparing to bomb the June 2004 NATO meeting in Istanbul.
5). LEBANON -- In September 2004 a plot to blow up the Italian embassy in Beirut, was foiled when Lebanese authorities arrested 10 people, including al-Qaed operative Ismail Mohammed al_Khatib. Al-Khatib died of a heart attack in custody.
6). BELGIUM -- Belgian police detained Youssef Belhadj, on Feb. 1 for his alleged role in the Madrid bombings. Authorities say he could be the al-Qaeda spokesman who claimed responsibility for the attacks on video.
7). FRANCE -- In an effort to curb the flow of support for insurgents in Iraq, police swept the cities of Montpelier and Limogos in June, arresting Hamid Bach, a Moroccan who allegedly stockpiled bombmaking materials in his home and tried to enter Iraq a year ago. Police last month detained a 19-year old man, in Vemaison who possessed detonators, chemicals and pictures of Osama bin Laden in his flat.
8). SPAIN -- Some three dozen Madrid-bombing suspects are in custody. In October, 2004 Spanish authorities detained about 30 North Africans connected with a terrorist cell that was planning to attack Spain's national court in Madrid. This June, police arrested 11 terrorism suspects across Spain, including 11 who were allegedly recruited for suicide missions in Iraq and have ties to Iraq terrorism kingpin Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi.
(abstracted from TIME MAGAZINE by : Sean Gregory) |
| posted by infraternam meam @ 3:43 AM |
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Name: infraternam meam
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