[New York Times] Elaine Sciolino - Asim had been sent to Spain to be a suicide bomber, but he also was an informant for French intelligence working in the no man's land of Waziristan in Pakistan. He told Spanish investigators the largely Pakistani terrorism cell members recently arrested in Barcelona envisioned a wave of spectacular attacks: Coordinated suicide bombings would start in the city's subway system and then sweep through Portugal, Germany, France and Britain if certain demands were not met. "The jihadi threat from Pakistan is the biggest emerging threat we are facing in Europe," said Judge Baltasar Garzon, Spain's highest anti-terrorism magistrate. "Pakistan is an ideological and training hotbed for jihadists, and they are being exported here." Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, "We had 20 terrorists show up in Spain that had been trained in Pakistan that were going to be suicide bombers, fanning out over Europe." Three suspects identified as would-be suicide bombers arrived from Pakistan through other European cities: one via Sweden, a second via Germany, and a third via Portugal.
2008-02-11 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive