Monday, April 05, 2004
Al Qaeda's Letter to Spain
Well, no sooner had I written about Al Qaeda’s lack of coherent strategy in Spain when they send a letter to a Spanish newspaper spelling out their demands. Claiming responsibility for the “blessed attacks on March 11”, the group said that if Spain does not "completely and immediately" withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, “we declare war and we swear by Almighty God that we will turn your country into an inferno and we will make blood flow like rivers." It also claimed that they “placed bombs on the high-speed line near Toledo and … [they] could have made the trains that passed there Thursday or Friday blow up, but we didn't because our objective is only to warn you and show that we have the force and capability — with permission of Allah the Highest — to attack whenever we want and however we want." It is not clear yet whether this is true. It is just as likely that, as Intelligence agents cited by the Spanish news agency Efe say, the letter's objective is to "derive some profit for the frustrated attack on the Madrid-Seville line." In any case, the group announced that the “truce” between Spain and Al Qaeda ended yesterday. (I do not really know what to make of claim of there ever having been a truce other than the not very credible claim made by Abu Hafs al-Masri that Spain would no longer be targeted if it follows through on a pledge to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq. http://canadawide.blogspot.com/2004_03_01_canadawide_archive.html Scroll down to "Spain off limits?")
Now, it is not clear, whether the group that sent the letter was involved in Madrid attack. However, authorities are not ruling out the possibility that they were. The letter's purported author, Abu Dujana al Afgani, is believed to be the same person who appeared in a videotape claiming responsibility for the Madrid attacks. Found two days after the bombing in a garbage can near a Madrid mosque, Abu Dujana al Afgani says that the bombings were revenge for the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq.
What is clear is that Morocco-based Islamic Combatant Group, which the authorities linked to last year's suicide attacks in Casablanca, Morocco, were the core group that carried out the bombing.
Well, no sooner had I written about Al Qaeda’s lack of coherent strategy in Spain when they send a letter to a Spanish newspaper spelling out their demands. Claiming responsibility for the “blessed attacks on March 11”, the group said that if Spain does not "completely and immediately" withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, “we declare war and we swear by Almighty God that we will turn your country into an inferno and we will make blood flow like rivers." It also claimed that they “placed bombs on the high-speed line near Toledo and … [they] could have made the trains that passed there Thursday or Friday blow up, but we didn't because our objective is only to warn you and show that we have the force and capability — with permission of Allah the Highest — to attack whenever we want and however we want." It is not clear yet whether this is true. It is just as likely that, as Intelligence agents cited by the Spanish news agency Efe say, the letter's objective is to "derive some profit for the frustrated attack on the Madrid-Seville line." In any case, the group announced that the “truce” between Spain and Al Qaeda ended yesterday. (I do not really know what to make of claim of there ever having been a truce other than the not very credible claim made by Abu Hafs al-Masri that Spain would no longer be targeted if it follows through on a pledge to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq. http://canadawide.blogspot.com/2004_03_01_canadawide_archive.html Scroll down to "Spain off limits?")
Now, it is not clear, whether the group that sent the letter was involved in Madrid attack. However, authorities are not ruling out the possibility that they were. The letter's purported author, Abu Dujana al Afgani, is believed to be the same person who appeared in a videotape claiming responsibility for the Madrid attacks. Found two days after the bombing in a garbage can near a Madrid mosque, Abu Dujana al Afgani says that the bombings were revenge for the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq.
What is clear is that Morocco-based Islamic Combatant Group, which the authorities linked to last year's suicide attacks in Casablanca, Morocco, were the core group that carried out the bombing.
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