U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2005 - Spain

Spain arrested scores of individuals with possible links to al-Qaida and related extremist organizations; there were 79 detentions. At year's end, 29 of those 79 detainees remained in custody, while the other 50 were released on bail or cleared of charges. The Minister of Interior reported in October that Spain held a total of 125 Islamist terrorist suspects; that figure rose to 131 total detainees by the end of the year. These detainees included individuals arrested in 2004 for conspiring to bomb Spain's High Court and other Madrid landmarks. In April, Switzerland extradited the alleged leader of this conspiracy, Mohamed Achraf, to Spain where he is awaiting trial. Authorities continued to hold 10 Pakistani nationals arrested in Barcelona in 2004 for allegedly providing logistical support to al-Qaida.

Spain cooperated closely with the United States to investigate and prosecute acts of terrorism and to prevent future attacks. Spanish authorities provided extensive information for the trial in the United States of Zacarias Moussaoui. Spanish officials also provided U.S. investigators substantial information regarding the July 2001 visit to Spain of September 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta and other September 11 plotters.

Spain worked hard to disrupt terrorist acts that possibly were directed against U.S. interests. In June, Spanish police dismantled a network that was facilitating the movement of suicide bombers and other terrorists to Iraq to attack Coalition forces. On March 11, U.S. Attorney General Gonzales and Spanish Minister of Justice Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar announced the formation of the U.S.-Spain Counterterrorism Experts Working Group to increase cooperation in terrorism investigations and prosecutions. This working group brought together prosecutors, investigators, and other experts from both countries; it met twice to discuss terrorism cases of mutual interest.

Spain cooperated with the Department of Homeland Security on the Container Security Initiative to scan containers bound from the port of Algeciras to the United States for hazardous and illicit materials. Spain and the United States co-chair the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Terrorism Finance Working Group. Spain participated in all meetings of the G8 Counterterrorism Action Group (CTAG), based on its high level of counterterrorism assistance to third countries. The Spanish Government prepared but has not yet issued implementation regulations for the 2003 Law to Prevent Terrorist Financing.

A Spanish court sentenced 18 members of an al-Qaida cell to between six and 27 years in prison. Separately, authorities continued to investigate the March 2004 train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people and wounded hundreds of others.

On September 26, Spain's High Court convicted Spain-based al-Qaida cell leader Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas and sentenced him to 27 years in prison for membership in a terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit terrorist acts. Seventeen other members of the Barakat Yarkas cell also were convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 11 years; six defendants were acquitted. Barakat Yarkas, a Syrian immigrant to Spain, was detained in November 2001 on charges of having provided support to al-Qaida and of having helped Mohamed Atta organize the September 11 terrorist attacks. Among those convicted was al-Jazeera journalist Taysir Alony, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for transporting funds from Barakat Yarkas to terrorists in Afghanistan under his cover as a journalist.

Spanish authorities continued their investigation into the March 2004 Madrid train bombings. Police arrested 31 individuals in connection with the investigation, bringing to 110 the total number of suspects detained as part of the investigation; 30 suspects remain jailed awaiting trial or further investigation. In September, Serbian authorities extradited Moroccan national Abdelmajid Bouchar to Spain in response to an international arrest warrant seeking Bouchar for his alleged role in the Madrid train bombings. Bouchar had escaped a Spanish police raid in Madrid in April 2004 and warned his colleagues of the approaching police, allowing the suspects to barricade themselves in their apartment. The seven suspected terrorists detonated explosives in the apartment, killing themselves and one police officer.

In April, Spain joined France, Germany, and Belgium in an agreement to link the criminal record registries of each country to help accelerate background checks on suspected terrorists operating in the region.

The High Court convicted Spanish national Hamed Abderrahman and sentenced him to six years' imprisonment for membership in a terrorist organization. Abderrahman was transferred to Spain from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo in February 2004 at the request of Spanish authorities.

In the Basque region, a Spanish court initiated trial proceedings against 56 individuals charged with providing logistical support to the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorist group. The case encompassed six separate investigations directed by the National Court against ETA between 1998 and 2002.

Though ETA carried out all the terrorist attacks in Spain in 2005, there were important detentions related to other terrorist groups, including:

• On June 1, a UK judge authorized the extradition to Spain of Moroccan national Farid Hilali. Spanish investigators believed Hilali was the person referred to as "Shakur" in multiple conversations intercepted by police as part of the Barakat Yarkas case. In his discussions with Yarkas, "Shakur" indicated significant knowledge of planning for the September 11 attacks in the United States. At year's end, Hilali had not yet been transferred to Spanish custody.
• On June 15-28, police undertook "Operation Tigris," arresting 11 individuals on charges of working on behalf of Ansar al-Islam to recruit potential suicide bombers in Spain for operations against Coalition and Iraqi Government forces in Iraq.
• On November 23, police arrested 11 Algerian nationals on charges of providing financial and logistical support to the Algerian terrorist group GSPC from the proceeds of narcotics trafficking and credit card fraud. Four of the suspects, Khaled Bakel, Said Bouchema, Salim Zerbouti, and Lyies Sihamida, allegedly sought to purchase explosives and were suspected of having links with extremists in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Denmark. The four were held pending further investigation, while the other seven Algerian nationals were released on bail.
• On December 9, authorities arrested seven more suspected GSPC members in several towns along Spain's Mediterranean coast on charges of raising funds for the GSPC through robbery. According to press reports, this cell was in contact with senior GSPC figures responsible for extending GSPC actions beyond Algeria's borders, and had funded terrorist attacks in North Africa, Afghanistan, and possibly in Pakistan and Chechnya.
• On December 19, police arrested 19 suspected Islamist extremists on charges of recruiting individuals to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq. The detainees included 12 Moroccans and one national each from Spain, France, Belarus, Ghana, Egypt, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The investigating magistrate ordered six of the individuals held in pre-trial detention while the rest were released pending further investigation. Three of the detainees reportedly served as imams in their local mosques in Malaga and Ceuta.

Spain continued to make progress in its decades-old campaign to eliminate ETA. Spanish authorities arrested 71 individuals for membership in or association with ETA and dismantled six ETA operational cells. Spain cooperated with French authorities in this effort, with French police arresting 33 suspected ETA members and extraditing five of them to Spain to stand trial. Spanish authorities charged 41 members of ETA's illegal political front group Batasuna, including senior Batasuna figure Arnaldo Otegi, with membership in a terrorist organization and providing financial support to ETA. As of December 12, ETA had carried out 30 bombings; although there were no deaths as a result of these attacks, there were injuries and significant property damage.

The conviction in September of Imad Eddin Barakat Arkas and 17 associates was believed to have significantly reduced al-Qaida's direct presence in Spain, although al-Qaida affiliates and supporters appeared to remain active.

The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) was believed to be active among extremist elements in Spain's large Moroccan immigrant community. Many of the Madrid train bombing suspects had direct or indirect relationships with the GICM. GICM figure Hassan El Haski and three associates were arrested in Spain in December 2004.

The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) is known to use Spain as a logistical base and transit point. On November 23, authorities arrested 11 Algerian citizens on charges of raising funds for the GSPC through drug trafficking and credit card fraud. Police released seven on bail, but continued to hold four of the suspects on charges that they also sought to obtain explosives. On December 9, police arrested a second group of seven GSPC members on similar charges.

Police believed that the Iraqi terrorist group Ansar al-Islam was the main organizer of a terrorist facilitation network that funneled potential suicide bombers from Spain to Iraq, primarily through Syria. In June, police arrested 11 individuals on charges of recruiting terrorists for Ansar al-Islam.

Authorities believed they had nearly eradicated the extreme leftist First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO), but a joint Spanish, French, and Italian police operation in October that resulted in the arrest of two GRAPO members led observers to speculate that the group possibly was reconstituting itself.