Spain: AQIM speaks about Islamists imprisoned in Spain

This is an update on this story (1, 2, 3, 4). El Mundo:

Sources of the Penitentiary Institutions in Spain reported yesterday that there are 64 Islamists imprisoned in Spain, most of them condemned by Jihadist activities related to March 11th bombings, and with Police Operations called “Nova” and “Dátil”.

Nearly a dozen Islamists condemned by their role on March 11th bombings, are imprisoned, among others,Jamal Zougam, who was an active player in the massacre.

Islamists related to March 11th bombings were accused of being “members of cells or terrorist groups, Jihadist-related, who, using violence as a mean to achieve their targets in all their activities, want to end every democratic regime and eliminate the culture of Western Christian tradition. They also want to impose an Islamic state under Sharia Law, that is, the Islamic Law in its most radical, extreme and less common expression”.

In “Operación Nova”, the Third Section of the Criminal Tribunal from the National Court published on Feb 2008 a sentence in which 20 Islamists were condemned to 173 yearsin prison. The charges were belonging and colaborating with terrorist organization.

Lastly, “Operación Dátil” ended with a sentence of the same tribunal on Sept 2005. It condemned 18 person, among others Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, aka “Abu Dahdah”. He was considered as the leader of an AQ cell in Spain. He was also condemned on conspiration charges related to Sept 11 2001 attacks on US.

ABC.es:

In the text, the criminals announce they will “not stop” in “our will to combat and kill you and we will resist your attacks to help our tortured imprisoned [fellows] in your prisons”. In Spanish prisons there are around 60 Jihadist prisoners and some of them belong to the Salafist school. Linked to the latter, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat was born, group which was later transformed into AQIM.

…Even if officially there are no proofs of financial payments from the Governments, it is true that the terrorists have only freed the hostages after their financial demands were fully satisfied. One of the organizations which has mediated in some of AQIM kidnappings is the foundation directed by Seif El Islam, Muamar El Gadaffi’s son, who has a “widespread net” in the Sahel’s area, although in the last kidnappings another channels have also been used. France and Spain will work together in the negotiation’s area for obvious reasons: French Administration knows well the area because of its condition of former metropoly.

Spain: Ban on Minarets survey

Esther from Islam In Europe, asked me yesterday if I have seen any polls on the subject on Spanish MSM. Daniel Pipes has this:

14,000 readers of 20 Minutos voted 93-6 percent in favor of the statement “Good, we must curb Islamization’s growing presence” and against “Bad, it is an obstacle to the integration of immigrants.” 35,000 readers of El MUndo replied 80-20 percent that they support a Swiss-like banning of minarets.

As this is not the only poll that shows these numbers across Europe he reasons about them:

First, it raises delicate issues of reciprocity in Muslim-Christian relations. A few examples: When Our Lady of the Rosary, Qatar‘s first-ever church opened in 2008, it did so minus cross, bell, dome, steeple, or signboard. Rosary’s priest, Father Tom Veneracion, explained their absence: “The idea is to be discreet because we don’t want to inflame any sensitivities.” And when the Christians of a town in Upper Egypt, Nazlet al-Badraman, finally after four years of “laborious negotiation, pleading, and grappling with the authorities,” won permission in October to restore a tottering tower at the Mar-Girgis Church, a mob of about 200 Muslims attacked them, throwing stones and shouting Islamic and sectarian slogans. The situation for Copts is so bad, they have reverted to building secret churches.

Why, the Catholic Church and others are asking, should Christians suffer such indignities while Muslims enjoy full rights in historically Christian countries? The Swiss vote fits into this new spirit. Islamists, of course, reject this premise of equality; Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottakiwarned his Swiss counterpart of unspecified “consequences” of what he called anti-Islamic acts, implicitly threatening to make the minaret ban an international issue comparable to the Danish cartoonfracas of 2006.

Second, Europe stands at a crossroads with respect to its Muslim population. Of the three main future prospects – everyone getting along, Muslims dominating, or Muslims rejected – the first is highly improbable but the second and third seem equally possible. In this context, the Swiss vote represents a potentially important legitimation of anti-Islamic views. The vote inspired support across Europe, as signaled by online polling sponsored by the mainstream media and by statements from leading figures.

Iran: no mercy with protesters

Reuters:

A nationwide rally on Monday to mark the killing of three students under the Shah turned violent when students clashed with security forces armed with batons and tear gas in the largest anti-government protests in months.

“From now on, we will show no mercy toward anyone who acts against national security. They will be confronted firmly,” said prosecutor Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Witnesses said scuffles occurred between students loyal to opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi and others who support hardline President Ahmadinejad in Tehran universities on Tuesday.

Any international condemnation?

Venezuela-Sahel: international net of drug trafficking and terrorism

Following the news of 4 European (3 Spanish and 1 French) volunteers kidnapped by Al-Qaeda in Mauritania and taken then to Mali, I posted about the UN denouncing that international drug trafficking is financing terrorist groups in the Sahel, a Saharan region. In its Mauritanian and Mali zones is where AQIM has now its headquarters after being expelled from Algerian coasts. The link shows a connection with Bolivarian Venezuela:

The United Nations says the discovery of a crashed plane in Mali carrying cocaine from Venezuela has revealed a link between drug trafficking and terrorism.

The head of the UN drugs agency, Antonio Maria Costa, has warned that a sub-Saharan region of Africa, known as the Sahel, has become a new centre for drug trafficking, and the trade is helping to fund rebels and militant groups.

The BBC reports the wreckage of a Boeing 727 was found in Mali last month with up to 10 tonnes of cocaine from Venezuela on board.

via Radio New Zealand News : Stories : 2009 : 12 : 10 : Link revealed by UN between drug trafficking and terrorism.

More on the links between Chávez and terrorism: Venezuela’s new Continental Bolivarian Movement: 15 Minutes on Latin America @ Fausta’s Blog.

Spain: Islamic Moral Police in action

From El Periódico, with thanks to Esther:

Sources in the interior ministry involved in anti-terrorism say that the case of the alleged abduction and trial of a woman in Reus by Muslim fundamentalists is the most violent expression of the an increasingly disturbing phenomenon: fundamentalist groups of people who, with support of ultra-conservative mosques, assume the role of judge and police of Islamic morals and exert enormous social pressure on the Muslims in these towns.

The phenomenon, which for years has been manifesting itself in countries like France and the Netherlands [ed: I'm not sure where they got that last one from], has been detected in rural municipalities in the Camp de Tarragona area, as well as in villages in Gironès and Segarra.

This always happens in towns where the mosque is run by followers of Salafism, an ultra-conservative denomination, which believes in following the lifestyle of the Salaf (the first followers of Mohammed).

These people use their status in the community to shield their community and create a separate country, separated from the Catalan environment, which they consider ungodly. These mosques call on the faithful not to socialize with the Catalans, not to turn to their institutions (police, judges or associations), to only purchase halal products in Muslim shops, and not to use banks, since they charge interest. In addition they pressure parents not to allow their daughters to go to gym class or to the pool, and to take them out of school once they start menstruating.

More in Speroforum.

Well, this doesn’t surprise me. There are two relevant things, by the way:

1. this is the 1st time that Spanish MSM recognises this fact. Specially considering that El Periódico is both leftist (“Alliance of Civilizations“) and Catalan nationalist (They have favoured non-Hispanic immigration to make newcomers speak Catalan rather than Spanish).
2. it’s still an unreported and basically ignored fact. Of course, Catalonia has the most important group of Salafists (or ultra-traditionalist Muslims, in general) in Spain, so it’s rather logical that the first information on this phenomenon comes from there. But it’s not the only part of Spain where Muslims with ultra-traditionalist views live. I would like to hear from other similar groups from Madrid, Valencia, Andalucia (specially Granada), Basque Country, etc.