US embassy cable - 05MADRID2340

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, Counterterrorism 
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