(Ha'aretz) Zvi Bar'el - Al-Qaeda has three scores to settle with Spain: Spain was the European country that enabled Bush and Blair to present the war on Iraq as a coalition effort and not a U.S.-UK duet; Spain has 1,300 soldiers stationed in Iraq at present; and Spain is in the process of putting a large group of suspected al-Qaeda activists on trial. Al-Qaeda cells in Spain were built up around activists who had been sent to the country back in the 1990s. At least two al-Qaeda meetings in the run-up to September 11 were held in Spain. The fear is that extreme Islamic activists are active among the Muslim community that has come to Spain from Algeria. While there were no specific intelligence warnings regarding Spain, if Thursday's attack was carried out by al-Qaeda, it seems that Spain was chosen because it is a relatively "soft target," and it is relatively easy to enter the country.
2004-03-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive