From our Belgian Correspondent, a leading European Intelligence Analyst;

The European Terrorism Review JULY 2002  Part-One

While the United States and its allies in the war against terror are focussing their efforts on the conflict in Afghanistan it becomes clearer every day that Europe has been figuring as a melting pot for Islamic fundamentalism. As it became clear that a large part of the 11 September attack was planned in Europe the Intelligence and security services in Europe started a crackdown on these groups and individuals, arresting several of them but it becomes also clear that the largest part of the organization is still intact. The logistic and supply routes are still operational, the flow of money and funds still continuing (because of the trade in blood diamonds, drugs, and real estate), most of the sleepers undetected and the omnipresent possibility of an individual action executed by a "believer". In an interview, the spokesperson of Al Qa'ida, Aby Ghayth said that it is the duty of every Muslim to initiate attacks like the one in Djerba. This is a significant call to all fundamentalists irrespective of any connections to the Al Qa'ida network. In this issue of the European Terrorism Review we will try to point out several of the strategically important points of the organization throughout Europe as a possible indication of an increase of extreme left terrorist group actions. Another concerning fact is also the growing support of extreme right factions for the Palestinian cause in the Middle East; this is nothing new because in the past there were already well maintained contacts between extreme right-wingers and leaders of Palestinian liberation movements.

Islamic fundamentalism - The Moroccan trail

The latest arrests in Morocco point out that there is clearly an intact Al Qa'ida structure within the country and the terrorists arrested in Morocco belong to the Maghreb/South Europe commando. So it is easy to assume that there are other commando’s related to geographical area’s within Europe. In the last week it became obvious that there is also a recruiting portion in the Netherlands linking the two area’s (South and North Europe) through the arrested Nizar Trabelsi in Belgium.

The Moroccan territorial Surveillance Directorate (DST) dismantled an Al Qa'ida cell in May, dealing a severe blow to the organization and its operational possibilities in the Maghreb/Southern Europe area. Two leading members of the organization Abu Zubayr al Hilali and Muhammad Rabat Haydar al-Zammar were arrested during the operation in May. It became clear during the investigation that both of them attended a "summit" in Southern Spain (Costa del Sol) on the fifth of September, with the financial co-ordinator and military chief of Al Qa'ida in Europe, the Yemeni Ramzi Bin-al-Shibh and the person who most likely replaced the former military chief in Europe, Mohamed Bensakhria. Bensakhria was arrested in Alicante, Spain on 22 June 2001 and was considered the leader of the Meliano commando, which tried to attack the market place of Strasbourg. Allegedly the aim of this summit was to recruit arms and drugs traffickers for a dual assignment, to monitor the Saudi Royal family during their holidays in Spain and to monitor and prepare attacks on the US naval base in Rota (Southern Spain).

According to the US justice department it is the arrest of a great importance, it is believed that Abu Zubayr is the head of Al Qa'ida’s cells and 'sleepers' in the Maghreb. The arrest of Zubayr may be an important one but it is hard to believe that only 'one' person would be the head of all cells and sleepers in the Maghreb if one takes into account the known organizational chart and strength of the Al Qa'ida organization. The strength of Al Qa'ida is the fact that the left hand doesn’t know what the right one is doing and that one cell doesn’t know about the existence of the other cells in the same area, it is also largely assumed that most of the sleepers got their orders before leaving Afghanistan. The heads of these cells have been given points of contact for financial and logistic support and they carry out their operations individually. With the isolation of the "Al Qa'ida Shura" in Afghanistan the operational control got lost a little but it seems clear that the organization is gaining control again in the European and North African arena. Zubayr is also a cousin of Yemeni terrorist Salah Hajir one of the leaders behind the "USS COLE" attack in October 2000.

Another significant fact of the arrests in Morocco is the arrest of Muhammad Zammar "the bear-al-dubb", 41, the alleged organizer of the Djerba attack. He used a base in Southern Spain to organize this attack. Zammar travelled several times before and after the 11 September to Spain, from Tangiers to Algecircas. Zammar, a German terrorist of Syrian origin is still wanted by the German authorities for terrorist conspiracy. Zammar apparently acted as the contact between fundamentalists in Germany, Spain, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Saudi Arabia.   According to a report of the French DGSE, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia ordered the Tunisian authorities to conceal the fact that they arrested an Islamic fundamentalist commando of 12 people in the localities of Sfax and Zarsis, 10 days before the attack on Djerba.

The European connection - Southern Europe

According to a Spanish magazine Ramzi Bin Al Shibh flew from Hamburg to Barajas airport on the fifth of September and fled to Afghanistan via North Africa on September 9. Another Spanish report also points out that Al Qa'ida may be capable of carrying out attacks in Europe including the use of surface to air missiles.

It seems that the Al Qa'ida organization has now spread throughout Europe. Before Europe was only used for planning and logistical purposes but it seems now that they are planning to execute fresh attacks. The dismantled cell and the thwarted attack on Rota naval base points out that a new and violent network is operating in Europe with its centre of operations in Spain. Spain has been used in the past by Al Qa'ida operatives for travel and fundraising; the leader of the Meliano commando was arrested in Alicante Spain in June 2001 after he evaded arrest by the German authorities for his planned attacks on Strasbourg.

Zammar, arrested in Morocco, formed part of the same terrorist cell as Mohammad Ata, the Egyptian national who led the attacks against the WTC. Both had been members of the German cell of Al Qa'ida since 1997. Zammar, who according to Arab sources has travelled to Afghanistan on two occasions to carry out training courses, took part in a meeting of heads of Al Qa'ida cells in January 2000 in Malaysia, where the air attacks against the USA were planned.

Muhammad Haydar Zammar took charge of maintaining contact between the German cells and those on Spanish territory, after Mohammad Ata's death last 11 September. On his visit to Madrid, Zammar met Moroccans and Algerians to introduce them to some Saudi Arabian "brothers", who would later move to Morocco. Muhammad Haydar Zammar has many friends in Morocco and has a Moroccan wife.  Leaving Madrid on 28 October 2001, a few weeks after the terrorist attacks in the USA, Zammar returned to Morocco accompanied by one of the Saudis arrested by police in Casablanca along with two others, Hilal Jabir Awad al-Asiri and Zuhayr Hilal Muhammad al-Saithi.

The Moroccan wives of two of the three Saudi Al Qa'ida members have also been arrested in Casablanca. The DST is convinced that the two women not only knew of their husband's terrorist plans, but belonged to the Al Qa'ida network too.  A week ago, Italian police spoke for the first time of a woman occupying an important position in the organization's European terrorist network. The woman, who remains unidentified, must have spoken on several occasions to the Egyptian Abu-Saleh Es-Sayed, one of the organization's leaders. The disappearance of Es-Sayed, who could be in Pakistan, has prevented investigators from identifying the woman.  The Moroccan cell's objective was to watch the Strait of Gibraltar and the movements of NATO military ships. Muhammad Haydar Zammar, meanwhile, disappeared. He is said to have been arrested in a third country and handed over to the USA. The group then received a visit from Jalib Sheij Mohammed the man that has taken control of Al Qa'ida’s military operations after the arrest of Abu-Zubaydah, and the idea of attacking the NATO fleet with boat bombs was first raised.

Apparently the attack on the Naval base of Rota was planned during the Seville European summit of 21-22 June. This action was planned to demonstrate the operational capabilities of Al Qa'ida even when the war in Afghanistan is going on and more than 300 members of the organization are in jail. The most worrying information comes from Afghanistan, information indicating that the next attack may also come from the ground directed against commercial aircraft. Apparently, some 50 Stinger missiles, given to the Mujahideen by the CIA during the Soviet occupation have disappeared without a trace. European and American Intelligence services fear that some of these missiles have been shipped to Europe and the US, according to a Spanish weekly it is also believed that some have been handed over to the ETA, while others are presumably hidden in Spain although some sources also speak of Germany. A BND document speaks about the intention of Al Qa'ida to use this sort of weapons against passenger planes. In regards to this fact a terrorist group in Saudi Arabia tried to bring down a US plane less than a month ago, according to ABC news. The security services found a missile launcher buried near the main US base.

Al Qa'ida also changed its way of communications since September 11, they no longer use the telephone but the internet, messages are not sent by e-mail but hidden in pictures posted on websites. At the same time recruiting is going on where vast sums of money are used to attract young men and women from a poor social background under the cover of religious or charitable organizations. It is also believed that vast sums of money have been used to activate a dormant network in Europe focussing mainly on US interests on the continent. (Part Two tomorrow)