Afghan Bombing Sends a Danger Signal to U.S.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 — The audacity of a suicide-bomb attack on Tuesday at the gates of the main American base in Afghanistan during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney underscores why President Bush sent him there — a deepening American concern that the Taliban and Al Qaeda are resurgent.



American officials insisted that the importance of the attack, by a single suicide bomber who blew himself up a mile away from where the vice president was staying, was primarily symbolic. It was more successful at grabbing headlines and filling television screens with a scene of carnage than at getting anywhere near Mr. Cheney.

But the strike nonetheless demonstrated that Al Qaeda and the Taliban appear stronger and more emboldened in the region than at any time since the American invasion of the country five years ago, and since the Bush administration claimed to have decimated much of their middle management. And it fed directly into the debate over who is to blame.

The leaders with whom Mr. Cheney met on his mission to Pakistan and Afghanistan have appeared increasingly incapable of controlling the chaos, and have pointed fingers at one another.

Mr. Cheney said the attack was a reminder that terrorists seek “to question the authority of the central government,” and argued that it underscored the need for a renewed American effort.

His critics, on the other hand, said the strike was another reminder of how Iraq had diverted the Bush administration from finishing the job in Afghanistan.

The blast Mr. Cheney said he heard from his quarters deep inside Bagram Air Base took a terrible toll. At least 23 people were killed, including an American soldier and an American contractor, along with a South Korean soldier.

About 20 Afghans died, including a 12-year-old boy. An additional two dozen or so were wounded.

By Tuesday evening, long after Mr. Cheney wrapped up his visit and headed home to the United States, it remained unclear whether the suicide bomber had known that Mr. Cheney was on the base at the time of the attack. One military official at United States Central Command, which oversees operations in Afghanistan, said he strongly believed that the bomber was unaware of Mr. Cheney’s presence.

In Washington, American officials said their intelligence had detected no specific threat against Mr. Cheney, whose entry into Afghanistan had been kept secret after an equally clandestine visit to Pakistan on Monday.

But word of his presence in Afghanistan leaked out on Monday after a snowstorm delayed his meeting with President Hamid Karzai, and Mr. Cheney decided to stay at Bagram Air Base overnight. That fact was widely reported on Internet sites and on radio programs that have significant audiences in Afghanistan. It was possible that the attack outside the gate at Bagram was arranged quickly, or redirected to the air base from another target.

The attack, which occurred between the perimeter of the base and the first American checkpoint, occurred at 10 a.m. Tuesday. An administration official said an initial American review had found that the attack “doesn’t look, at first pass, like something that was carefully planned out.”

The bomber appeared to have made his way past an Afghan-guarded gate. But American military officials in Afghanistan said the suicide bomber detonated his weapon before he got to the first United States checkpoint, at a point where fuel trucks and vehicles carrying other goods park outside the gates to await inspection before being sent in.

Master Sergeant Chris Fletcher, a spokesman for the military operation in Afghanistan, said in a telephone interview that the bomber “did not penetrate the outer ring of security.”

That account suggested that the security around the base had kept the bloodshed of an Afghanistan under attack by both Taliban and Qaeda forces outside the high walls of the base, the hub of American military activity in the country.

But it also suggested a widening spiral of insecurity in Afghanistan, which had nearly 140 suicide bombings last year, including in Kabul, making the conflict and tactics here increasingly reminiscent of the chaotic struggle in Iraq.

Critics have charged that the Iraq war has precluded the United States from sending sufficient forces to Afghanistan. Concerned about a spring Taliban offensive, the United States has increased its force in Afghanistan to about 26,000. More than 20,000 troops from other NATO nations are also deployed there.

The scenes that Mr. Cheney flew over on his way in and out of Bagram — the devastation outside the gate and the bombed-out landscape of Kabul — was a reminder of how far the reality of Afghanistan is from the goals that President Bush set just short of five years ago, in a speech at the Virginia Military Institute. At the time, Mr. Bush repeatedly invoked the memory of Gen. George C. Marshall, the man behind the reconstruction that followed World War II, in expressing confidence that a “stable government” and a “national army” would help to achieve peace in Afghanistan.

But in testimony on Tuesday in front of the Senate armed services committee, the new director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, painted a grim picture of what he called a “pivotal year for Afghanistan,” in which the country’s leaders would have to “confront pervasive drug cultivation and trafficking, and, with NATO and the United States, arrest the resurgence of the Taliban.”

Mr. Cheney’s mission was to figure out how to bolster the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, and the NATO force, and to try to ease an openly hostile relationship between Mr. Karzai and another American ally, Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. Mr. Karzai has argued that many of the attacks in Afghanistan have been launched from Pakistan. Mr. Musharraf has said Mr. Karzai is looking for a scapegoat.

Michael R. Gordon contributed reporting.
By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: February 28, 2007
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U.S. Sees New Al-Qaeda Threat

The new director of national intelligence said yesterday that the United States is "very concerned" that Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership are attempting to rebuild their terrorist network and establish training camps in a region of northwest Pakistan "that has never been governed by any power."

"We inflicted a major blow, they retreated to another area, and they are going through a process to reestablish and rebuild, adapting to the seams or the weak spots as they might perceive them," retired Vice Adm. John M. McConnell told the Senate Armed Services Committee as he delivered his first global threat assessment to Capitol Hill.



While describing new al-Qaeda volunteers as "very committed individuals," McConnell also said they lack the experience of the old leadership, nearly three-quarters of which has been killed or captured. Without giving details, he said, "a number of [terrorist] plans and activities have been shut down or disrupted."

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked McConnell about the probability that al-Qaeda members in Pakistan or Iraq are organizing an attack on the United States -- a scenario that President Bush recently hinted at should U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq. The intelligence chief replied that an attack would "most likely" emerge from Pakistan, though he described Iraq as "a cause celebre for the jihadists in creating forces," and warned that al-Qaeda elements in Iraq, Syria and Europe are planning attacks.

McConnell also outlined some obstacles to a settlement in Iraq. The majority Shiites, he said, "are not confident of their position and . . . are worried that the Sunnis may come back and dominate the country." The Sunnis, he said, are unwilling "to admit that they are no longer in charge," and the Kurds are "biding their time to protect Kurdish interests." Overall, he said, "I think the Iraqi political leaders have close to impossible tasks."

Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, confirmed for the committee that weapons training for Iraqi militia members is being provided in Iran as well as in Hezbollah camps in Lebanon. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) called the Iranian training "a very serious act and one that we ought to consider taking steps to stop in defense of our soldiers."

Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.) was one of several Democrats who questioned the decision to include an assessment of a "rapid withdrawal" of coalition forces from Iraq as part of the recent National Intelligence Estimate. The NIE judgment was that such a withdrawal would increase violence and hasten deterioration of the situation in Iraq -- a finding that has since been cited by Bush and others who support a troop increase and oppose withdrawal.

National Intelligence Council Chairman Thomas Fingar, who supervised production of the NIE, told the Senate panel that "unquestionably and categorically" there had been no political pressure to shape the estimate.

"I'm not criticizing your bona fides," Bayh told Fingar, "but I do care about the credibility of your work product . . . and when you start down that slippery slope, you just get into these kinds of arguments."

Lawmakers praised McConnell and his colleagues for their candid testimony. At one point, when asked about recent reports that Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr appeared to be both for and against the increase in troops in Baghdad, the president's chief intelligence adviser said, "I don't know what Sadr's position is. . . . I'd be guessing."

By Walter Pincus
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007; Page A04
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Bombing Near Cheney Displays Boldness of Resurgent Taliban

Vice President Cheney was inside the main U.S. air base in Afghanistan yesterday when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives just outside the gates, killing as many as 23 people and showcasing insurgents' growing capabilities in advance of a widely expected spring offensive.



Within hours, a purported Taliban spokesman asserted responsibility for the attack -- which killed a U.S. soldier and an American civilian contractor -- and said it was an attempt to assassinate Cheney. U.S. officials disputed the assertion that Cheney was the target, noting that his overnight stay at the sprawling Bagram air base had been unplanned and that he was well away from the blast.

"I heard a loud boom," Cheney told reporters later. "The Secret Service came in and told me there had been an attack on the main gate."

The attack prompted military officials to issue a "red alert" at the base. Cheney was briefly moved to a bomb shelter, before being allowed to continue with his schedule.

Regardless of the intent, the attack demonstrated that insurgents in Afghanistan are becoming increasingly bold, willing to attack a heavily fortified U.S. target in the face of unusually tight security. Additionally, the assault was carried out in a part of the country where the Taliban has relatively little support. The Islamic militia's traditional stronghold has been in the south; Bagram is in the country's central region, about an hour's drive north of Kabul.

"It's pretty striking that they're capable of planning and executing an attack on Bagram on fairly short notice and under changing circumstances. We haven't seen anything like this before," said Daniel Markey, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who until last month worked on South Asia policy at the State Department. "Psychologically, this has to be seen as a serious blow."

Markey said the attack is also an ominous sign with the approach of spring, which is usually accompanied by a heavy escalation in violence as conditions for fighting improve. "Everyone agrees on both sides that this is going to be a bad spring," he said.

Until 18 months ago, suicide bombings had been a rarity in Afghanistan, despite more than two decades of war. Recently, however, they have become a favored tactic of insurgents who are trying to undermine the weak pro-Western government in Kabul and force NATO troops to leave.

Last year, there were 139 suicide attacks in Afghanistan, five times as many as in 2005. The shift in tactics has prompted concern that the Taliban, which lost power after a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, is adopting the methods of insurgents in Iraq.

"This attack is a reflection of their new capabilities, which they've developed in the last year or two through their connections with the transnational extremists," said Ali Ahmad Jalali, former interior minister of Afghanistan. "This will boost morale and will help them to recruit more fighters. This is the kind of violence that can have a major psychological impact."

Asked whether Taliban fighters were sending a message, Cheney indicated they were. "I think they clearly try to find ways to question the authority of the central government," he said. "Striking at Bagram with a suicide bomber, I suppose, is one way to do that. But it shouldn't affect our behavior at all."

The Bush administration has become increasingly concerned by the violence in Afghanistan, and Cheney's previously unannounced stops in Pakistan and Afghanistan during a trip to Asia were intended to signal the White House's commitment to countering insurgents there.

Meeting with Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in Islamabad on Monday, Cheney pushed the leader to do more to crack down on Taliban and al-Qaeda activity in semiautonomous frontier region. Afghan officials have blamed Pakistan for allowing the Taliban a haven to plan and train for attacks in Afghanistan. U.S. officials had long defended Pakistan as a valuable ally, but intelligence reports that al-Qaeda is reconstituting itself in Pakistan have prompted U.S. officials in recent months to publicly question whether Musharraf is doing all he can.

Following the meeting with Musharraf, Cheney flew to Bagram late Monday. He stayed at the base overnight because a storm delayed his meeting in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai until yesterday morning. The delay was reported publicly Monday night.

Just before 10 a.m. yesterday, a suicide bomber driving a Toyota Corolla made it through a gate at the air base manned by Afghan police officers, according to Gen. Salem Ihsas, the police chief in Parwan province, where Bagram is located.

The assailant detonated his explosives before he was able to make it through a second gate, which is manned by U.S. personnel. Ihsas said that 19 people were killed in the blast and that 15 were wounded, mostly Afghan laborers who had reported for work at the base. Other estimates from Afghan officials put the death toll slightly higher, while U.S. authorities said nine people had been killed and 21 injured.

U.S. military officials said the bomber was on foot and did not get as close to the base as Ihsas suggested.

Ihsas said preliminary reports indicated the bomber was not Afghan but declined to say where he was from. "Once we are done with the investigation, we will know exactly," he said.

The dead in yesterday's blast included a South Korean soldier. South Korea is part of the 37-nation NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, which is responsible for security throughout Afghanistan.

The United States and Britain -- the two largest contributors of troops in Afghanistan -- both recently announced they would be increasing their force levels, with the U.S. total climbing to 27,000.

About 5,100 U.S. troops, plus 4,000 other coalition personnel and contractors, are stationed at the air base at Bagram.


Special correspondent Javed Hamdard in Kabul and staff researcher Robert E. Thomason in Washington contributed to this report.
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, February 28, 2007; Page A01
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Al-Qaeda the 'worst threat' to US

Al-Qaeda represents the most serious threat to US interests, the new US intelligence chief has said.



Michael McConnell told a congressional panel the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah also posed a grave threat.

He also said Iran and North Korea were of most concern to the US because there was a risk they could spread weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

Mr McConnell, who became head of the 16 US spy agencies this year, said Iraq was "moving in a negative direction".

The retired admiral told the Senate Armed Services Committee that al-Qaeda elements were still trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

"They continue to plot attacks against the homeland and other targets with the aim of inflicting mass casualties. Indeed, al-Qaeda, along with other terrorist groups, continues to seek chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons or materials," he said.

"Al-Qaeda is also forging stronger operational connections that radiate outward from their camps in Pakistan to affiliated groups and networks throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe."

Nuclear threat

Mr McConnell said Iran and North Korea still posed a threat of nuclear proliferation, despite the nuclear agreement recently signed with North Korea.

"We assess that Iran seeks to develop nuclear weapons and has shown greater interest in drawing out the negotiations rather than reaching an acceptable diplomatic solution," he said.

"This is a very dangerous situation as a nuclear Iran could prompt destabilising counter-moves by other states in this volatile region.

"While our information is incomplete, we estimate that Iran could produce a nuclear weapon by early to mid next decade," he added.

Beyond that, Iran was also a concern to the US because of its alleged activities in Iraq.

Mr McConnell acknowledged that the US had no proof that the Iranian leadership was directly involved in supplying Iraqi Shia insurgents with weapons, but he said his assessment was that there was a "probable" link.

Regarding North Korea, he said "open questions" remained about the North's intentions, but added that "so far, the indications were in a positive direction".

Last Updated: Tuesday, 27 February 2007, 17:55 GMT
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Cheney Attack Reveals Taliban Suicide Bombing Patterns

Editor's Note: In light of today's attack on Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan during the visit of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, The Jamestown Foundation is releasing this featured article by Dr. Brian Glyn Williams on the suicide bombing patterns of the Taliban. This article will also appear in Thursday's issue of Terrorism Monitor.



The information for this article came from a five-month study of suicide bombings from 2001 to 2007 in Afghanistan. No suicide bombing was listed in the study unless it was corroborated by numerous sources. Sources varied from coalition countries' press releases, open media, al-Qaeda/Taliban websites, U.S. military sources and Afghan news agencies. While the sample analysis of 158 attacks is not definitive, its overall findings are indicative of general Taliban targeting trends.

The recent suicide bombing attack on Bagram Air Base, which killed as many as 15-23 people during the visit of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, has highlighted the growing problem of suicide bombers in Afghanistan. While the United States has dismissed the Taliban's claims that they attacked Bagram in an effort to assassinate Cheney, the targeting of a U.S. base fits previous Taliban targeting patterns.

Prior to the Bagram incident, U.S. military and government sources routinely spoke of the "Iraqification" of the Afghan conflict. Recent statistics from U.S. and Afghan agencies seem to support this claim. While Afghanistan had 25 suicide bombings in 2005, in 2006 it experienced as many as 139 suicide attacks. Recent media images from Afghanistan of bombed buses, shattered markets and burnt out U.S. humvees further support the notion that the carnage that has shredded the fabric of Iraqi society has come to the so-called "Forgotten War" in Afghanistan.

If taken at face value, these claims represent a disastrous, if unintended side effect of the invasion of Iraq and bode ill for the upcoming year. Yet despite the mounting evidence that the Iraqi invasion has destabilized Afghanistan via the sharing of Iraqi tactics with Afghan insurgents, the suicide bombing campaign in Afghanistan has its own specific dynamics. It is the little noticed local characteristics that distinguish suicide bombing in Afghanistan from that in the Iraqi theater.

2007: Suicide Bombings…or Suicide?

An analysis of the Taliban's 2007 suicide campaign makes some of these differences glaringly obvious. At first blush, this year's statistics seem to support the notion that suicide bombers are ramping up their attacks in an effort to cause as much Iraqi-style carnage as possible. While it is only seven weeks into the new year, there have already been 21 suicide bombings (or attempts) in Afghanistan. This seems to be a fulfillment of Mullah Hayat Khan's promise to use 2,000 suicide bombers to make 2007 "the bloodiest year" in Afghanistan (al-Jazeera, January 27). Yet a deeper analysis of the suicide bombing attacks carried out since January 1 reveals an altogether different picture.

Astoundingly, of the 21 attacks carried out this year, in 16 cases the only fatality has been the suicide bomber himself. In the 17th case, the suicide bomber succeeded in killing himself and one policeman. In two other cases, the suicide bomber was arrested or shot. This translates to 19 Taliban suicide bombers for one Afghan policeman, hardly an inspiring kill ratio for would-be-suicide bombers. In most of these cases, the suicide bombers attacked foreign convoys on foot or in cars and were unable to inflict casualties on their targets. Typically, the suicide bombers' explosives went off prematurely or their bombs failed to kill coalition troops driving in heavily armored vehicles.

In only three of the 21 cases for 2007 were there notable fatalities. In the first successful case, a suicide bomber killed two Afghan policemen and eight civilians (Camp Salerno, Khost, January 23). In the second case, three policemen were killed (Zherai District, Khost, February 4). In the third case, the February 27 attack on Bagram Air Base while Cheney was visiting, the bomber succeeded in killing 15-23 people (including two to three coalition soldiers). Such numbers hardly compare to Iraq where suicide bombers often carry out synchronized attacks that regularly kill anywhere from 60 to 130 people. Such uninspiring statistics beg the question: what are Afghanistan's suicide bombers doing wrong?

Taliban "Hard Targeting"

While the low death statistics certainly speak to the Taliban bombers' general ineptitude, part of the answer also lies in their targeting patterns which differ from those in Iraq. Iraqi suicide bombers from such jihadi groups as Ansar al-Sunnah and al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia frequently seek to inflict high casualty rates by attacking soft targets, such as crowded markets.

Their objective is to cause as much bloodshed as possible, incite sectarian violence and destroy U.S. efforts to construct civil society in Iraq. Afghan suicide bombers, on the other hand, appear to have different objectives and have focused almost exclusively on hard targets (government, police, military). In 2007, for example, the Taliban have attacked foreign or Afghan military/police targets in 16 of their 21 bombings (in three cases the target was undetermined).

This in-depth analysis of 158 Afghan suicide bombings since 2001 shows that this is no anomaly and demonstrates an important point: in only eight of the 158 suicide attacks from 2001-2007 did civilians appear to be the direct target of Afghan bombers. Further scrutiny of these eight civilian attacks reveals an important fact. In two of these instances, the Taliban apologized for inflicting civilian casualties and in one case a Taliban spokesmen actually denied involvement. In four other cases the suicide bombers seem to have been targeting passing military convoys or governmental representatives in crowds; therefore, the high civilian casualties appear to have been unintended "collateral damage." In only two instances were civilians clearly the target of Afghan suicide bombers.

These findings tell us volumes about the Taliban's overall strategy in employing suicide bombing as a tactic. Far from imitating Iraqi insurgent tactics, the Taliban are trying to avoid losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people by needlessly killing civilians.

Long-Term Taliban Strategy

While more targeted than the Iraqi suicide bombing campaign, the Taliban suicide bombing operations nonetheless share one key objective with their Iraqi counterparts: to disrupt the local "infidel proxy" government's efforts to bring security to contested provinces. In Iraq, this translates to fighting the Maliki government for Anbar Province. In Afghanistan, it means fighting the Karzai government for Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Helmand and, most importantly, Kandahar, the spiritual capital of the Taliban. Kandahar has been the scene of the greatest number of suicide bombings and is the key to understanding Taliban strategy.

The Taliban movement sprang from Kandahar by offering the war weary Kandahari Pashtuns the one thing the mujahideen could not: security. While actively contesting the Karzai government for control of its natal territory, the current Taliban leadership does not want to be seen as destroying the local tribes' sense of security. The Taliban Shura knows from its own past experience that this would drive those Pashtun tribes sitting on the fence into the arms of the Karzai government.

For this reason, the Taliban merely aim to deprive the Karzai government and its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) sponsors of their ability to offer the people security. The Taliban know all too well that NATO-backed efforts to lay roads, build schools, drill wells and outlaw banditry represent the greatest threat to their movement. For this reason, they have commenced an insurgent campaign which aims to disrupt ISAF's efforts to stabilize the south and bring security to the people.

Nothing in the Taliban/al-Qaeda arsenal seems to have been as effective as a shock weapon against the militarily superior Afghan National Army and ISAF/U.S. troops as suicide bombers. One cannot overestimate the psychological damage that this asymmetric tactic has had on ISAF troops who have handily bested their Taliban opponents in pitched battles.

After Canadian ISAF troops delivering candy to children were targeted for suicide attacks, their skittish patrols began to attach speakers to their vehicles warning Afghans in Pashto to stay away. In a couple of instances, ISAF troops that have been targeted by suicide bombers have subsequently overreacted and shot innocent Afghan bystanders. Dutch ISAF troops, for example, have refused to be deployed in areas where suicide bombing is prevalent.

On many levels, the suicide bombing campaign does seem to have been successful. It has disrupted the coalition's efforts to interact with local populations and to win the race to bring security to contested provinces. Yet the Taliban are clearly playing a dangerous game, and this author's findings back up the Pentagon's claim that as many as 84% of the victims of suicide bombings in Afghanistan are civilians [1].

In several instances, Afghan suicide bombers have attacked foreign military convoys and succeeded in killing more than a dozen civilians and only one or two soldiers [2]. On other occasions, suicide bombers have killed or wounded innocent bystanders in mosques, hospitals, restaurants, or waiting for visas to partake in the Hajj. In the recent attack on Bagram Air Base, the vast majority of victims were once again civilians, and hundreds came to mourn their deaths. Not surprisingly, this has caused widespread resentment and protests in several Afghan cities.

Even in the best of circumstances, suicide bombing is not a precise technique and Afghanistan's feckless bombers seem far better at killing themselves and Afghan civilians than foreign troops. Far more coalition troops in Afghanistan have died from IEDs, gunfire, RPG attacks and other conventional methods than they have from suicide bombs. One Afghan study of the bloody 2006 campaign has found that suicide bombings in that year took 212 civilian lives, while leading to the death of only 12 foreign soldiers [3].

Conclusion

In light of the above, it seems clear that the Taliban will continue to employ suicide bombings in the upcoming year as a disruptive shock tactic. While the Taliban may get the occasional public relations coup, as in the seemingly coincidental attack on Bagram while Cheney was visiting, the main victims will continue to be the very people the Taliban are trying to win over, along with the suicide bombers themselves. As coalition troops continue to use close air support and superior artillery firepower to flush Taliban insurgents out of provinces like Kandahar, the real contest for the hearts and minds of the local population for 2007 may well hinge on the competing sides' "collateral damage" statistics.

Dr. Brian Glyn Williams is assistant professor of Islamic History at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Cathy Young is a research assistant at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

Notes

1. "Afghan Suicide Bombings Take Mostly Civilian Toll," http://www.pentagon.mil/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=679.

2. These instances include, among others: Kandahar, December 7, 2006; Kabul, September 18, 2006; Kabul, September 8, 2006.

3. "Afghanistan's Record of Suicide Attacks in 2006," http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?165055.

By Dr. Brian Glyn Williams and Cathy Young
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Cheney Unhurt After Bombing in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 27 — A suicide bomber blew himself up this morning outside the main gate of the United States military base at Bagram while Vice President Dick Cheney was inside the base. Mr. Cheney was not hurt in the attack.



The explosion killed and wounded a number of American and allied soldiers,Afghan and Pakistani truck drivers and laborers waiting for access at the gate. There were conflicting reports of the number of casualties and deaths.

The incident took place at the outermost security gate of the sprawling base, far from where Mr. Cheney was staying at the time. A few hours after the attack, Mr. Cheney traveled to Kabul to meet with President Hamid Karzai, and later left Afghanistan to fly to Oman. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing and said Mr. Cheney was the target of the attack, news agencies reported. Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who claimed to be a Taliban spokesman, told the Associated Press: “We knew that Dick Cheney would be staying inside the base.” He said the bombing was carried out by Mullah Abdul Rahim.

The claim could not immediately be verified.

The attack took place in a region of Afghanistan where the Taliban is thought to have very little support, and suicide bombings have been uncommon there. Such bombings, especially against high-security targets like the air base, usually involve substantial planning and preparation, and would be difficult to improvise quickly. Mr. Cheney’s presence on the base today was not scheduled and could not have been known before Monday night.

Speaking to reporters traveling him aboard Air Force Two on the way to Muscat, the capital of Oman, Mr. Cheney said that he was in his quarters at the airbase when the explosion took place.

“I heard a loud boom,” he said, according to a pool report. “The Secret Service came in and told me there had been an attack on the main gate.”

Mr. Cheney was moved “for a brief period of time” to a bomb shelter at the base, he said, but then returned to his room. He said he had never felt that he was in any danger.

An initial report from the American military in Afghanistan said that four people died in the explosion, including the suicide bomber, and NATO said that three people were killed, including an American soldier and a coalition soldier.

But an Afghan guard at the base said that he counted as many as 15 dead at the scene, including three American soldiers, and that 12 others were wounded. Later news agency reports put the death toll as high as 23.

Mr. Cheney made an unscheduled overnight stay at the Bagram air base, located north of Kabul, after his 18-minute flight to the capital was grounded by heavy snow on Monday evening and he was unable to make a planned meeting with President Hamid Karzai. When Mr. Cheney reached Kabul early this afternoon, the two leaders met for about two hours at the presidential palace.

Told by reporters about the Taliban claim of responsibility for the attack, Mr. Cheney said: “I think they clearly try to find ways to question the authority of the central government. Striking at Bagram with a suicide bomber, I suppose, is one way to do that. But it shouldn’t affect our behavior at all.”

A senior American official traveling with the vice president told reporters that Mr. Cheney reassured Mr. Karzai about America’s commitment to the region, and that Mr. Karzai was “upbeat” about the money and troops that the United States was providing to help Afghanistan.

The American military report said that about 23 people were injured in the bombing attack at Bagram and were being treated in the base hospital. The extent of their injuries was not known.

Reuters reported that those killed in the attack included an American soldier, a South Korean soldier who was part of the American-led coalition, and a contract employee of the United States whose nationality was not known.

The Associated Press reported that the South Korean defense ministry confirmed the death of one of its soldiers stationed at Bagram, Yoon Jang-ho. South Korea has about 200 army engineers and medics at the base, the A.P. reported.

Mr. Cheney’s trip to several nations in the region had been shrouded in unusual secrecy. News organizations that were aware of Mr. Cheney’s travels were asked to withhold any mention of the trip until he had left Pakistan. This appeared to reflect growing concern about the strength of Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in the region, and continuing questions about the loyalties of the Pakistani intelligence services.

In Pakistan Mr. Cheney delivered a stiff private message to President Pervez Musharraf that his government had not made adequate efforts to combat Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
Published: February 27, 2007
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U.S. Base in Afghanistan Targeted During Cheney Visit

Bomb Blast at Bagram Airfield Kills at Least 4; Vice President Unhurt in Attack



Vice President Cheney was shuttled into a bomb shelter at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan this morning after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the main gate in an attack Taliban officials say was aimed at the vice president.

Cheney was uninjured and in no real danger from the blast, which killed at least four people, including a U.S. soldier, at the gate of the Bagram Airfield.

Although the vice president heard what he described as a "loud boom" at around 10 a.m. Afghan time, the explosion occurred far from the building where Cheney had spent the night in advance of a meeting with Afghan President Hamad Karzai.

But coming near the end of an unannounced trip whose itinerary was closely guarded, the incident highlighted some of the same concerns about resurgent Taliban activity that Cheney had traveled to the region to address.

Speaking about the incident en route to Oman following a two-hour meeting with Karzai, Cheney said the attack was meant as a blow against the Afghan president but would "not affect our behavior."

Cheney said he was in the bomb shelter for only "a short period of time," did not feel threatened, and had not considered canceling his meeting with Karzai.

"I think they clearly try to find ways to question the authority of the central government," Cheney said. "Striking at the Bagram [base] with a suicide bomber, I suppose, is one way to do that."

Army Lt. Col. James E. Bonner, the base operations commander, said the bomber approached the gate and "when he realized he would not be able to get onto the base, he attacked the local population." In addition to the U.S. soldier, another coalition soldier and a U.S. government contract employee died in the attack along with the bomber, the commander said. Another 27 people were wounded.

News service reports, relying on local officials, reported more than 20 people were killed.

Cheney, on an Asia trip that included stops in Japan and Australia, was not originally scheduled to spend the night in Afghanistan. He arrived there Monday following a meeting in Pakistan with President Pervez Musharraf and was scheduled to meet that same day with Karzai. Because of security concerns his presence in the region had been kept under wraps until after he was leaving Pakistan.

However, his meeting with Karzai was delayed when a snowstorm left him unable to make the roughly 20 minute-flight from the Bagram base to Kabul, and the vice president stayed the night.

The Reuters news service reported that Taliban spokesman Mullah Hayat Khan took credit for organizing the quick attack.

"We wanted to target . . . Cheney," Khan said, the wire service reported, adding that he spoke by phone from an undisclosed location.

On the flight leaving the country, a senior administration official, who insisted on anonymity, said Cheney had come to Pakistan and Afghanistan at President Bush's request because of "the continuing threat that exists in this part of the world" -- a threat exemplified by Tuesday's bombing.

Taliban fighters are thought to be regrouping along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and leaders of the militant religious group have threatened a bloody spring offensive.

Around 47,000 coalition troops, including 27,000 U.S. soldiers, remain in Afghanistan following the 2001 invasion of the country.

U.S. officials have become increasingly concerned about the Taliban's resurgence and the reappearance of possible terrorist training operations in the border area.

In a meeting with Musharraf on Monday, Cheney urged tougher action in rural border areas, a message repeated to Karzai.

The administration official said the meeting was not scheduled to "beat up" on the Afghan president, but to coordinate ideas about confronting the Taliban.

The official said that Karzai was "upbeat," but relayed comments from Afghan tribal leaders skeptical about U.S. commitment to the country -- a concern deepened, the official said, by Democratic talk of a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

"They worry about that," the official said. "If they see weakness on the part of the U.S. . . . they worry about our commitment."

Democratic leaders have not pushed for a withdrawal from Afghanistan, a conflict they view as more directly tied to the 2001 terrorist attacks against New York and Washington because of al-Qaeda's once well-organized training operation there and close relationship with the Taliban.

By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 27, 2007; 10:36 AM
© 2007 The Washington Post Company
The Washington Post
Washington USA
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/27/AR2007022700174.html?sub=AR

Al menos 18 muertos por un ataque contra una base en Afganistán que visitaba Dick Cheney

* Un grupo radical talibán reivindicó el atentado, perpetrado con coche bomba

* La explosión ocurrió en uno de los accesos a la base, lejos de las oficinas y los cuarteles

* El vicepresidente de EEUU ya se encuentra en Kabul para reunirse con Hamid Karzai



KABUL.- Al menos 18 personas han muerto, entre ellas dos soldados extranjeros, por un atentado suicida contra la mayor base militar de Estados Unidos en Afganistán, en la que el vicepresidente de EEUU, Dick Cheney, visitaba a las tropas de su país, informó una fuente del Ministerio afgano de Interior.

La explosión se produjo a las 10.00 hora local (06.30 en España) en una de las entradas a la base aérea de Bagram, a 60 kilómetros al norte de Kabul, en la que Cheney pasó la noche después de que tuviera que posponer una reunión con el presidente afgano, Hamid Karzai. "El vicepresidente está bien", dijo la portavoz Lea Anne McBride.

Fuentes de la OTAN aseguraron que han muerto al menos dos soldados extranjeros, uno de ellos estadounidense, aunque la fuente gubernamental afgana, que pidió el anonimato, no pudo precisar cuántos soldados y civiles había entre los fallecidos. Este portavoz calificó el ataque como uno de los más graves de los últimos meses.

Poco después de la explosión, el grupo radical islámico talibán se adjudicó la responsabilidad del ataque. Según informó por teléfono a dpa su portavoz, Qari Mohammed Yusef Ahmadi, el atacante se llamaba Abdul Rahim y procedía de la provincia de Logar, en el este del país. El portavoz talibán habló de más de 20 muertos y 30 heridos, la mayoría soldados estadounidenses.

La Fuerza Internacional de Asistencia a la Seguridad (ISAF) aseguró en un comunicado que el ataque suicida fue lanzado desde un vehículo en la puerta de entrada de la base, y causó la muerte de cuatro personas y heridas a otras 23, que reciben ya atención médica en las instalaciones militares. Otras fuentes y medios estadounidenses elevan el número de víctimas mortales a más de 20.

"De nuevo, los extremistas han recurrido a inmorales actos de violencia contra afganos inocentes y las fuerzas internacionales que están aquí para protegerles", dijo el portavoz de la ISAF, el coronel Tom Collins.

Procedente de Pakistán, Cheney había aterrizado el lunes en Bagram debido a las malas condiciones atmosféricas que le impidieron hacerlo en el aeropuerto de la capital. Por la mañana, Cheney mantuvo un encuentro con las tropas estadounidenses, y poco después voló hasta Kabul para reunirse con el presidente de Afganistán, Hamid Karzai, según una fuente de la oficina presidencial afgana que pidió el anonimato.

Tras el duro invierno afgano, los talibán han intensificado su actividad en Afganistán. En lo que va de año, los enfrentamientos entre el grupo radical islámico talibán y las fuerzas internacionales han causado la muerte a unas 400 personas, la mayoría rebeldes. Bagram es un amplio complejo y los accesos principales están a cierta distancia de las oficinas y los cuarteles.

Actualizado martes 27/02/2007 11:39 (CET)
AGENCIAS
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El Mundo
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http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/02/27/internacional/1172560505.html

EEUU dice haber hallado en Irak más munición de fabricación iraní

El Ejército de Estados Unidos han mostrado hoy en Bagdad lo que califican como nuevas evidencias de que la insurgencia iraquí utiliza armas de fabricación iraní contra las tropas de EE UU. Entre estas supuestas evidencias se incluyen sofisticadas bombas para colocar junto a carreteras.



Las armas, entre otras proyectiles de mortero y cohetes, fueron encontradas durante una redada efectuada el sábado por tropas de EE UU y la policía iraquí en la ciudad de Baquba, al norte de Bagdad.

Washington, que acusa a Irán de promover la violencia en Irak, está especialmente preocupado por las llamados "explosivos de penetración", una sofisticada bomba de fabricación iraní pensada para ser colocada en las cunetas y que habría segado la vida de 170 soldados de EE UU desde 2004. Irán niega las acusaciones.

La revista The New Yorker asegura esta semana que EE UU prepara un plan de ataque a Irán que pueda ser lanzadon en 24 horas.

La semana pasada la BBC reveló que EE UU tiene listo un plan para atacar Irán. Dicho ataque se desencadenaría en dos supuestos: que Irán no detenga su programa atómico y que se demuestre que la república islámica está apoyando a la insurgencia iraquí.

Atentado contra un vicepresidente

Por otra parte, al menos diez civiles han muerto y 18 han resultado heridos hoy como consecuencia de la explosión de un coche bomba aparcado cerca de un edificio en el que el vicepresidente iraquí Adel Abdel-Mahdi pronunciaba una conferencia.

Adel Abdel-Mahdi, de confesión chií y uno de los dos vicepresidentes del país -el otro es el suní Tariq al-Hashemi-, ha resultado herido leve y trasladado a un hospital para un examen médico preventivo. La Policía ha informado de la muerte de al menos 10 civiles.

El atentado ha sido cometido en el barrio de Mansur, donde se encuentran numerosas Embajadas.

La salud del presidente

Por otra parte, el estado de salud del presidente iraquí, Yalal Talabani es "estable y normal", han afirmado hoy fuentes gubernamentales iraquíes, después de que éste hubiese sido ingresado anoche en un hospital de Ammán para ser sometido a pruebas médicas urgentes.

"No hay razones para la preocupación", ha dicho la oficina de Talabani en un comunicado hecho público hoy tras conocer los primeros resultados de los análisis.

"Los exámenes médicos han mostrado que su estado es normal y completamente estable, y que sus órganos vitales están en buenas condiciones", prosigue la nota.

Talabani, de 73 años, ingresó en un hospital especializado en cardiología de la capital jordana para ser sometido a una revisión urgente después de sufrir una indisposición a última hora de ayer.

26/02/2007 - 13:12
IBLNEWS, AGENCIAS
Nueva York
- Martes, 27 febrero 2007 -
Año VIII - Nº 3359 -
Director: M. Amigot
http://iblnews.com/story.php?id=23265

Cheney sale ileso de un atentado suicida en Afganistán

Varias personas han perdido la vida en el ataque.- "Oí una fuerte explosión", afirma el vicepresidente de EE UU



Varias personas (entre 3 y 15, según las fuentes) han fallecido y decenas han resultado heridas en un atentado suicida perpetrado contra la principal base estadounidense en Afganistán, en Bagram, donde se encontraba en ese momento de visita el vicepresidente de EE UU, Dick Cheney. El número dos de la administración americana ha resultado ileso y se ha trasladado a Kabul como tenía previsto. Los talibanes han reivindicado la autoría del atentado. "Escuché una fuerte explosión", ha declarado Cheney, quien fue trasladado a un búnker de la base tras la detonación.

"A las 10 a.m escuché una fuerte explosión", ha relatado. Las alarmas se dispararon en la base y agentes del servicio secreto informaron a Cheney de la sospecha de que se trataba de un ataque suicida.

"Me llevaron durante un periodo de tiempo relativamente breve a uno de los refugios antibombas cercanos. Cuando las cosas se calmaron, y hubo una idea más clara de lo que había pasado, fui trasladado a mi habitación hasta la hora de mi partida".

El mandatario estadounidense voló entonces a Kabul para comer con el presidente afgano, Hamid Karzai. Está previsto que vuele a Omán en las próximas horas.

El vicepresidente de EE UU ha afirmado que el ataque pretende "socavar el Gobierno de Afganistán". "Están tratando de encontrar maneras para cuestionar la autoridad del Gobierno central. Un modo de hacer eso es poner una bomba en la base de Bagram", ha añadido.

Hasta el primer control

El suicida llegó hasta el exterior de la entrada principal de la base de Bagram, situada a 60 kilómetros al norte de Kabul. Allí ha sido detenido por los guardias y ha detonado la carga. Entre los muertos hay un soldado estadounidense y otro surcoreano.

Pese a que Cheney se encontraba en el interior de la base en la segunda jornada de un viaje sorpresa a Pakistán y Afganistán, los mandos militares estadounidenses no creen que el ataque tenga relación con la visita del vicepresidente o que estuviera planeado como un atentado contra él. "No estaba en el lugar de la explosión", ha precisado un mando militar, “estaba a salvo en el interior de la base en el momento de la explosión”. "El vicepresidente está bien", ha dicho su portavoz, Lea Anne McBride.

Sin embargo, un comunicante ha reivindicado el atentado en nombre de las milicias talibanes, asegurando que el objetivo del suicida era el propio vicepresidente americano.

Agenda secreta, por motivos de seguridad

El vicepresidente ha pasado la noche en la base tras visitar ayer Pakistán en un viaje no anunciado por motivos de seguridad. Por la mañana, ha desayunado con los soldados antes del atentado. Después, como tenía previsto, ha emprendido viaje a Kabul para entrevistarse con el presidente afgano, Hamid Karzai, con el que ha estado reunido un par de horas. La entrevista tuvo que suspenderse ayer por problemas meteorológicos que impidieron al dirigente estadounidense viajar a la capital del país.

Su entrevista con Karzai tenía el objetivo de reconvenir al mandatario afgano para que redoble sus esfuerzos en la lucha contra los talibanes, que se hacen de nuevo fuertes en la frontera entre Pakistán y Afganistán. Lo mismo hizo ayer en Pakistán con el presidente Pervez Musharraf ante la evidencia de que los insurgentes talibanes han recobrado fuerzas en los últimos meses y han aumentado su capacidad de atentar contra los soldados extranjeros de la OTAN destinados en el país.

AGENCIAS - Kabul - 27/02/2007
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http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Cheney/sale/ileso/atentado/suicida/Afganistan/elpepuint/20070227elpepuint_6/Tes

EE UU exige a Pakistán que actúe contra Al Qaeda

El vicepresidente de Estados Unidos, Dick Cheney, hizo ayer una escala en Pakistán, a su regreso de una gira por Japón y Australia, para exigir al régimen del general Pervez Musharraf que redoble sus esfuerzos en la lucha contra Al Qaeda y los grupos de talibanes en las zonas fronterizas con Afganistán.



Esta presión de Cheney que, según el diario The New York Times, incluyó una seria advertencia del presidente, George W. Bush, a Musharraf, coincidió con la visita a Pakistán de la ministra de Exteriores británica, Margaret Beckett, que pidió también una mayor efectividad en la lucha contra la insurgencia. El portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Tony Snow, afirmó ayer que Pakistán puede hacer "mucho más".

Cheney habría prevenido al presidente paquistaní, según altos funcionarios en Washington, de la posibilidad de recortar las ayudas que el régimen de Islamabad recibe de la Administración estadounidense. La mayoría demócrata del Congreso ha pedido recientemente condicionar la ayuda a Pakistán a que el país haga "todos los esfuerzos posibles" para evitar que los talibanes operen desde su territorio.

Feudos terroristas

Durante un almuerzo que mantuvieron en el palacio de Musharraf, Cheney estuvo acompañado del vicedirector de la CIA, Steve Kappes, quien dispone de información sobre la reconstrucción de campos de entrenamiento de Al Qaeda en la frontera entre Pakistán y Afganistán. Los servicios de inteligencia norteamericanos están convencidos de que la infraestructura de los terroristas está siendo reconstituida.

Fuentes paquistaníes indicaron ayer que Musharraf reiteró que Afganistán necesita de una "estrategia global" y de más ayudas para la reconstrucción económica. El presidente paquistaní comentó que su país paga un alto precio en aumento de violencia en su propio suelo por el apoyo a Estados Unidos en la lucha contra el terrorismo.

AGENCIAS - Washington / Lahore - 27/02/2007
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Al Qaeda en África

Las informaciones sobre la reactivación y expansión de la organización terrorista Al Qaeda se multiplican desde principios de año. No sólo en Afganistán o en zonas de Oriente Próximo, además de algunos países europeos en los que se han descubierto redes de reclutamiento. También en África y especialmente en el Sahel.



En el fondo no es algo nuevo, aunque ahora parezca obedecer a una estrategia de más largo alcance y haya adquirido mayores dimensiones: Al Qaeda ya demostró su capacidad de actuar en África con los sangrientos atentados contra las embajadas norteamericanas en Kenia y Tanzania en 1998.

El cinturón desértico que se extiende desde Sudán por el Chad, Níger y Malí hasta Mauritania y el norte de Senegal amenaza con convertirse en un refugio -como ya lo son en parte Sudán y Somalia- para un grupo que, como Al Qaeda, ha logrado penetrar en las redes tradicionales de contrabando y que se beneficia de la debilidad estructural de los Estados de la zona, la pobreza y los conflictos tribales. Los movimientos salafistas en toda la región estarían agrupándose bajo el paraguas de Al Qaeda, que actuaría como una internacional del terror y de la ideología yihadista. De manera significativa, Argelia anunció esta semana haber alistado a 3.000 tuaregs para combatir "cualquier presencia militar extranjera" en la vecina Malí.

La expansión de Al Qaeda por la mitad norte de África puede convertirse en un fenómeno estratégico con graves consecuencias a medio y largo plazo. En estos países sin grandes recursos y carentes de una estructura institucional estable, Al Qaeda podría gozar de una situación inmejorable para establecer bases y campos de entrenamiento, además de una mayor impunidad para reclutar seguidores y activistas.

Las repercusiones directas para la seguridad europea, y especialmente para la española, son evidentes: las conexiones de Marruecos y Argelia con Europa pasan en gran parte por España. Según informaciones procedentes de Marruecos, Al Qaeda podría estar considerando declarar Ceuta y Melilla como objetivos directos de "liberación". Tampoco cabría descartar que entre los planes de la organización terrorista se encontrase la posibilidad de utilizar la crisis saharaui para sus propios fines, con el consiguiente potencial de desestabilización para nuestro vecino del sur.

Esta amenaza creciente sólo puede ser neutralizada por un decidido incremento de la cooperación de los servicios de información y de la lucha antiterrorista, tanto entre los europeos como con los países del área más expuestos. Una cooperación que, sin embargo, resultará difícil en buena parte de los casos.

26/02/2007
EDITORIAL
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http://www.elpais.com/articulo/opinion/Qaeda/africa/elpporopi/20070226elpepiopi_3/Tes

Londres deportará al ideólogo de Al Qaeda en Europa

• Los abogados de Abú Qutada dicen que en Jordania se practica la tortura



Abú Qutada, el clérigo extremista islámico de 45 años residente en el Reino Unido y considerado por el juez Baltasar Garzón como "el embajador espiritual" de Al Qaeda en Europa, será deportado a Jordania, su país de origen.

La Comisión Especial de Inmigración para Apelaciones rechazó ayer el recurso de los abogados de Qutada y dio la razón al Ministerio del Interior, que tramita la expulsión.

Qutada es, según la comisión, "un peligro para la seguridad nacional, que ha dado consejo a muchos individuos y grupos terroristas" y que tiene una "influencia incalculable" en ellos, pues ofrece "justificación religiosa a actos de violencia y terror".

La sentencia es una victoria para la política antiterrorista del Gobierno de Tony Blair, al abrir el camino a la deportación de otros radicales en similares circunstancias.

Los responsables de Interior tienen actualmente una lista de 18 extranjeros detenidos en el Reino Unido como sospechosos de terrorismo.

Qutada, de origen palestino, llegó a Gran Bretaña en 1993 con documentación falsa y logró asilo político. En Jordania fue juzgado en dos ocasiones en rebeldía y condenado a cadena perpetua por su colaboración en una serie de atentados con bombas, unas acusaciones que él niega.

ACUERDO DEL 2005

Su deportación se basa en el acuerdo firmado en el 2005 por el Gobierno británico y las autoridades jordanas por el que el Ejecutivo jordano garantiza que cualquiera que sea entregado a aquel país no será torturado.

El pacto, utilizado ahora por primera vez, esquiva la legislación europea de derechos humanos, que prohíbe las deportaciones a los países donde se infligen malos tratos. Los abogados de Qutada prepararan una nueva apelación e insisten en que "en Jordania se sigue practicando la tortura".

Los grupos de derechos humanos también han expresado su temor de que el clérigo, que predicaba incendiarias arengas en la mezquita londinense de Finsbury Park, incitando a los musulmanes a la guerra santa mundial, se enfrente en su país a la justicia militar.

El ministro del Interior, John Reid, considera que estos acuerdos bilaterales "consiguen el equilibrio entre permitirnos deportar a los individuos que amenazan la seguridad en nuestro país y la salvaguarda de los derechos de esas personas".

BEGOÑA ARCE
LONDRES
27/2/2007 Edición Impresa
LUCHA ANTITERRORISTA EN EL REINO UNIDO
El Periódico de Catalunya
Barcelona España
http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=383606&idseccio_PK=1007

Intelligence report reassesses threat of al Qaeda

LONDON -- Al Qaeda has established a foothold in most countries across North Africa and the Middle East and poses a far graver threat to Britain than previously thought, according to a report being circulated among British security departments.



Titled "Extremist Threat Assessment," the document, which was drawn up this month, also predicts that Afghanistan will supersede Iraq as the main location for terrorists planning violent acts against the West.

The secret intelligence document says that the number of locally based Islamist terrorists involved in plotting suicide attacks against "soft" targets in Britain could number more than 2,000.

The document, which has been circulated to the MI5 counterintelligence service, Scotland Yard, the interior ministry, Cabinet officials and the Ministry of Defense, says al Qaeda has grown into a worldwide organization with a foothold in virtually every Muslim country in North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia.

It says the terrorist group's influence extends from North Africa, including Egypt, through to Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, and into Somalia and Sudan. Al Qaeda is "resilient and effective" in Iraq, its "operating environment and financial position" in Pakistan has improved and a new group had emerged in Yemen.

"With violence in Afghanistan intensifying, and therefore receiving greater media attention, the country may well become more attractive as a venue for foreigners wishing to fulfill their jihad ambitions," the document says.

Using the term "UK" or "United Kingdom" to refer to Britain, the document states: "The scale of al Qaeda's ambitions toward attacking the UK and the number of UK extremists prepared to participate in attacks are even greater than we had previously judged."

It warns that terrorist "attack planning" against Britain will increase this year, and adds: "We still believe that [al Qaeda] will continue to seek opportunities for mass casualty attacks against soft targets and key infrastructure. These attacks are likely to involve the use of suicide operatives."

Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director general of MI5, warned recently that more than 1,600 "identified individuals" were actively engaged in plotting terrorist attacks in Britain. There were 200 known networks involved in at least 30 terrorist plots. It is thought the number of British citizens involved in plots could be well in excess of 2,000.

MI5 thinks that soft targets, such as the transportation system and economic targets such as the city of London and Canary Wharf, are most at risk.

A senior political source said the picture painted by the document was "particularly bleak and unlikely to improve for several years."

"The Security Services have constantly warned that the task of countering Islamist terrorism is a daunting one. There will be more attacks in Britain," he said.

Two years ago, Western intelligence said that al Qaeda was virtually a spent force, disrupted by counterterrorist operations around the world.

In July 2005, the Pentagon obtained a letter written by Ayman al-Zawahri, al Qaeda's deputy leader, saying the organization had lost many of its leaders and that it had virtually resigned itself to defeat in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda's lines of communication, funding and structure had been severely damaged.

Jonathan Eyal, the director of international security at the Royal United Services Institute, attributed the al Qaeda revival to the West's inability to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, and said the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq made matters worse.

"This document clearly demonstrates a marked shift from the mood of Western governments only a year or two ago," he said. "It is a clear admission that the organization is re-emerging and the reasons are that none of al Qaeda's top leaders have been killed or captured."

By Sean Rayment
LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
February 26, 2007
Washington USA
http://washingtontimes.com/world/20070225-104923-9780r.htm

Bush to Warn Pakistan to Act on Terror

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 — President Bush has decided to send an unusually tough message to one of his most important allies, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, warning him that the newly Democratic Congress could cut aid to his country unless his forces become far more aggressive in hunting down operatives with Al Qaeda, senior administration officials say.



The decision came after the White House concluded that General Musharraf is failing to live up to commitments he made to Mr. Bush during a visit here in September. General Musharraf insisted then, both in private and public, that a peace deal he struck with tribal leaders in one of the country’s most lawless border areas would not diminish the hunt for the leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban or their training camps.

Now, American intelligence officials have concluded that the terrorist infrastructure is being rebuilt, and that while Pakistan has attacked some camps, its overall effort has flagged.

“He’s made a number of assurances over the past few months, but the bottom line is that what they are doing now is not working,” one senior administration official who deals often with South Asian issues said late last week. “The message we’re sending to him now is that the only thing that matters is results.”

Democrats, who took control of Congress last month, have urged the White House to put greater pressure on Pakistan because of statements from American commanders that units based in Pakistan that are linked to the Taliban, Afghanistan’s ousted rulers, are increasing their attacks into Afghanistan.

For the time being, officials say, the White House has ruled out unilateral strikes against the training camps that American spy satellites are monitoring in North Waziristan, in Pakistan’s tribal areas on the border. The fear is that such strikes would result in what one administration official referred to as a “shock to the stability” of General Musharraf’s government.

General Musharraf, a savvy survivor in the brutal world of Pakistani politics, knows that the administration is hesitant to push him too far. If his government collapses, it is not clear who would succeed him or who would gain control over Pakistan’s arsenal of nuclear weapons.

But the spread of Al Qaeda in the tribal areas threatens to undermine a central element of Mr. Bush’s argument that he is succeeding in the administration’s effort to curb terrorism. The bomb plot disrupted in Britain last summer, involving plans to hijack airplanes, has been linked by British and American intelligence agencies to camps in the Pakistan-Afghan border areas.

General Musharraf has told American officials that Pakistani military operations in the tribal areas in recent years so alienated local residents that they no longer provide the central government with quality intelligence about the movements of senior Islamic militants.

Congressional Democrats have threatened to review military assistance and other aid to Pakistan unless they see evidence of aggressive attacks on Al Qaeda. The House last month passed a measure linking future military aid to White House certification that Pakistan “is making all possible efforts to prevent the Taliban from operating in areas under its sovereign control.”

Pakistan is now the fifth-largest recipient of American aid. Mr. Bush has proposed $785 million in aid to Pakistan in his new budget, including $300 million in military aid to help Pakistan combat Islamic radicalism in the country.

The rumblings from Congress give Mr. Bush and his top advisers a way of conveying the seriousness of the problem, officials said, without appearing to issue a direct threat to the proud Pakistani leader themselves.

“We think the Pakistani aid is at risk in Congress,” said the senior official, who declined to speak on the record because the subject involved intelligence matters.

The administration has sent a series of emissaries to see the Pakistani leader in recent weeks, including the new secretary of defense, Robert M. Gates. Mr. Gates was charged with prompting more action in a region in which American forces operate with great constraints, if they are allowed in at all.

“This is not the type of relationship where we can order action,” said an administration official involved in discussions over Pakistan policy. “We can strongly encourage.”

Relations between General Musharraf and Mr. Bush have always been tense, as the Pakistani leader veers between his need for American support and protection and his awareness that many Pakistani people — and the intelligence service — have strong sympathies for Al Qaeda and the resurgent Taliban. Officials involved with the issue describe the current moment between the leaders as especially fraught.

Mr. Bush was deeply skeptical of the deal General Musharraf struck with the tribal leaders last year, fearing that it would limit the government’s powers to intercede in what Mr. Bush has called the “wild west” of Waziristan, administration officials said at the time.

During his visit to Washington last fall, General Musharraf said the agreement he signed with tribal leaders, giving them greater sovereignty in the region, had “three bottom lines.” He said one was “no Al Qaeda activities in our tribal agencies or across the border in Afghanistan.” The second was “no Taliban activity” in the same areas. And the third was “no Talibanization,” which he described as “obscurantist thoughts or way of life.”

American intelligence officials have made an assessment that senior Qaeda leaders in Pakistan have re-established significant control over their global network and are training operatives in some of the camps for strikes on Western targets.

One American official familiar with intelligence reports about Pakistan said intelligence agencies had established “clear linkages” between the Qaeda camps and the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights that was thwarted last August. American analysts said the recent trials of terrorism suspects in Britain showed that some defendants had been trained in Pakistan.

American officials say one reason General Musharraf agreed to pull government troops back to their barracks in North Waziristan and allow tribal leaders greater control over security was to give him time to rebuild his intelligence network in the border region gradually.

By DAVID E. SANGER and MARK MAZZETTI
Published: February 26, 2007
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
New York USA
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/26/world/asia/26pakistan.html?th&emc=th

U.S. Says Raid in Iraq Supports Claim on Iran

BAGHDAD, Feb. 25 — A raid on a Shiite weapons cache in the southern city of Hilla one week ago is providing what American officials call the best evidence yet that the deadliest roadside bombs in Iraq are manufactured in Iran, but critics contend that the forensic case remains circumstantial and inferential.



The new evidence includes infrared sensors, electronic triggering devices and information about plastic explosives used in bombs that the Americans say lead back to Iran. The explosive material, triggering devices, other components and the method of assembly all produce weapons with an Iranian signature that has never been found outside Iraq or southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is believed to have used weapons supplied by Iran, the Americans say.

But critics assert that nearly all the bomb components could have been produced in Iraq or somewhere else in the region. Even if the evidence were to establish that Iran is the source, they add, that does not necessarily mean that the Iranian leadership is responsible.

The raid by American and Iraqi forces discovered a fake boulder made of polyurethane and containing three of the deadliest kind of roadside bombs in Iraq. Smeared with dirt and pebbles to give it the color and texture of a rock, the polyurethane blob was resting in the back seat of a Toyota, apparently in preparation for a roadside attack, American officials said in lengthy briefings with two New York Times reporters last week.

The Toyota, along with a second vehicle and a nearby house described as an assembly point, contained components and other weaponry that the officials say demonstrate that the bomb parts must have originated in Iran. Called explosively formed penetrators, or E.F.P.’s, bombs like the ones hidden inside the fake boulder are designed to eject molten slugs that slice through American armor with deadly precision.

The assertion that the latest find greatly bolsters the theory of the Iranian origin of the E.F.P.’s is significant because it could provide the United States with a new justification to take action against Iran. But the evidence is unlikely to satisfy skeptics who have been suspicious that the Bush administration is trying to lay the groundwork for isolating or even attacking Iran. They point to the flawed intelligence used by the administration to accuse Saddam Hussein of harboring unconventional weapons before invading Iraq nearly four years ago.

Still, American military officials appear to be making an attempt to respond to critics who say the evidence is inconclusive. In the course of the detailed briefing on the Hilla discovery, Maj. Marty Weber, an explosives expert, said that most of the E.F.P.’s in Iraq use C-4 plastic explosive manufactured in Iran. At the request of the Bush administration, The Times is withholding some specific details about the weapons to protect intelligence sources and methods.

In addition to the Hilla discovery, military officials are expected to disclose at a briefing on Monday details about materials found in a raid in Diyala Province, the mixed Sunni-Shiite battleground north of Baghdad, that, according to one military official, included enough components to make more than 100 E.F.P.’s. The official asked not to be identified because the matter is so sensitive.

All of the items found in the Hilla raid have been used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, said Major Weber, a master explosives ordnance technician who has studied many kinds of improvised bombs in the Middle East and elsewhere and is closely involved in the effort in Iraq.

In addition, the shallow concave caps, which are made of copper and change into armor-piercing balls when the E.F.P.’s explode, were smooth and flawless, indicating to the explosives expert that they were manufactured in Iran because of the high precision required to make them so. Also found during the raid were 10 107-millimeter Strella rockets that had Iranian markings.

A Question of Technology

The most specialized part of the E.F.P.’s that were found is the concave copper disc, called a liner, that rolls into a deadly armor-piercing ball when the device explodes. Although American explosives experts say that the liner is deceptively difficult to make properly, the discs in Hilla look like a thick little alms plate or even a souvenir ashtray minus the indentations for holding cigarettes.

The electronics package is built around everyday items like the motion sensors used in garage-door openers and outdoor security systems; in fact, at the heart of some of the bombs found in Iraq is a type of infrared sensor commonly sold at electronic stores like RadioShack.

Major Weber said the use of precision copper discs combined with passive infrared sensors amounted to “a no-brainer” that the explosive components were of Iranian origin, because no one has used that sort of configuration except Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

Could copper discs be manufactured with the required precision in Iraq? “You can never be certain,” Major Weber said. But he said that “having studied all these groups, I’ve only seen E.F.P.’s used in two areas of the world: The Levant and here,” meaning in Hezbollah areas of Lebanon and in Iraq. Hezbollah is thought to be armed and trained by Iran.

Skeptics say the new details do not support a conclusion that only Iran could be providing the components. “Iran may well be involved in the supply of these weapons, but so far they haven’t proved it,” said Joseph Cirincione, senior vice president for National Security at the Center for American Progress, a liberal research and advocacy organization.

“Before we act on the assumption that these are Iranian we’ve got to rule out all these other possibilities,” he said. “The military hasn’t done that.”

He noted that a related weapon, the shape charge, “has been around for decades.

“This is not new stuff,” he continued. “There is a vast international arms market selling shape charges from many countries.”

New Details

The new information is more substantial than the limited details disclosed earlier this month in Baghdad, said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a research group based in Alexandria, Va.

“That initial briefing was not much to write home about,” Mr. Pike said. “The points that they are making here are rather more convincing. Whether they’re true is a completely different question.”

Mr. Pike said he was not swayed by arguments that the copper discs could only be made by equipment in Iran. All that is required are machine tools, he said. “You can buy them,” he said. “I mean, look at all those cylinders people use for L.P.G. cooking gas. Do you think they are all imported from Iran? Probably not. I bet there are guys all over Iraq who make those things for a living.”

But he found other details more persuasive. “The two points they are making about the tradecraft of the fuse and the wrappings of the explosives, those are pretty good pieces of evidence,” he said. “I will say that, totally apart from any of this evidence, I would be astonished if Iran was not providing military support to the Shia militias. It should be self-evident that they are doing that.”

Afternoon Attack

American officials gave this account of the Hilla raid:

It took place at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 after an informant reported seeing a tow truck carrying rockets.

The fake rock with three E.F.P. canisters inside was sitting on the back seat of a different vehicle, a Toyota Crown. The trunk of the same car contained various equipment including an infrared sensor, a G.P.S. unit, two compasses and a jug filled with an unknown explosive.

Tools and materials for making fake rocks were found inside the house along with a partly completed rock and two E.F.P.’s. Among the items found there were seven battery packs needed to set off the blasting caps that initiate the E.F.P. explosion, four cans of epoxy foam and three of the infrared sensors.

The E.F.P.’s were designed to inflict maximum damage. The positioning of the sensor and the exact angles of the E.F.P.’s inside the rock were fixed to find weak points in American armored vehicles like Humvees and Strykers.

“The E.F.P. canisters are typically arrayed at angles to minimize the effects of countermeasures,” Major Weber said. “They want to hit the truck when it is already well into the kill zone.”

The infrared sensors could be armed and disarmed at a distance with cellphones, long-distance cordless phones or radios. That allows the attackers to arm the devices only when convoys are approaching. Then, when the convoys trip the sensors, the E.F.P.’s explode.

Major Weber said many of those techniques were clearly Iranian in origin. Critics said that all of them could be replicated by skilled Iraqis or others in the Middle East with a solid knowledge of electronics and basic manufacturing techniques.

Still, Major Weber said, there were other indications of Iranian involvement in Hilla. In the raid, the Iraqi and American troops also found a red 1988 Chevy tow truck carrying 10 Strella rockets under a false bottom in the bed. The rockets had MJ-1 contact fuses and were probably made in China and repainted with Iranian markings — the usual practice for weapons that Iran imports and re-sells. Following international convention, the markings were in English, not Persian. They indicated that the rockets had been made in 2005 and each carried 18 kilograms of explosive.

As to why the Iranians would leave such obvious markings on the shells, Major Weber speculated that they had simply been taken out of stock and shipped across the border.

Comparisons to Others

Major Weber said he doubted that Hezbollah — the group that the Mahdi militia leader Moktada al-Sadr has used as a model for his political movement — would have provided the material and technology to the Mahdi militia or to other Shiite fighters in Iraq. “It is possible, but based upon my experience we have not seen Hezbollah share information or technology on anything until they have been told to,” he said.

“The E.F.P. is their silver bullet,” he said, referring to Iran and its allied militias.

Major Weber also said that the use of passive infrared sensors, or P.I.R.’s, was one of the strongest markers of Iranian involvement, based on years of experience indicating that only Iranian-backed groups employ the sensors in that manner. But he also acknowledged that the electronic components needed to make the sensors were easily available off the shelf at places like RadioShack.

Those components are used in commercial products, like motion sensors for a lighting system or garage door openers. Those products are opened up, rewired and repackaged. Sometimes on products requiring the triggering of multiple beams to close the circuit, masking tape is used to cover up some beams so that only one is triggered.

“Every P.I.R. in Iraq has been RadioShack, Digigard or Everspring,” Major Weber said. “But in southern Lebanon I never saw them use RadioShack.”

While he maintained that the copper liner also required specialized equipment and skills to make properly, that assertion also rests on some rather subtle distinctions. A senior military official displayed pictures of a stack of some 30 copper E.F.P. liners seized in a raid in Mahmudiya, a town south of Baghdad. Such liners, Major Weber said, were “copycats” stamped in Iraq, not Iran. To the untrained eye, the liners initially looked identical to the genuine ones.

But Major Weber then pointed out that there were often slightly visible cracks forming circles around the tops of the liners when they were set on a table with their concave sides pointing down. Those imperfections were signs that the liners had been made in Iraq, Major Weber said. And because of the imperfections, he said, an E.F.P. made with them would be much less deadly. Such an E.F.P. would fragment rather than curl into a ball, he said, and the fragments would be much less likely to pierce armor.


Michael R. Gordon and Scott Shane contributed reporting from Washington.
By JAMES GLANZ and RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
Published: February 26, 2007
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
New York USA
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/26/world/middleeast/26weapons.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th

El vicepresidente iraquí resulta herido leve tras un ataque en un ministerio

BAGDAD.- Cuando crecen las dudas sobre la efectividad del plan de seguridad para la capital de Irak, una explosión durante una recepción en un ministerio provocó la muerte de al menos cuatro personas. El vicepresidente iraquí, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, presente en la recepción, resultó herido leve.



Según fuentes gubernamentales, la explosión parecía provocada por un proyectil de mortero que impactó en la sede del Ministerio de Obras Públicas. Según fuentes policiales, el vicepresidente, aunque prácticamente ileso, fue trasladado a un hospital. También resultó herido leve el ministro chií de Trabajo, Ryad Ghraib. Además, hay 26 heridos.

Continúa pues la violencia en Bagdad. El domingo, un atentado suicida en el campus de la Universidad de Mustansariya de la capital provocó 40 muertos.

Hace ya dos semanas de la entrada en vigor del plan de seguridad del Gobierno iraquí de Nuri Al Maliki, aunque los últimos días han teñido de sangre las calles de Bagdad con nuevas masacres que ponen en tela de juicio el éxito de la estrategia.

El primer ministro iraquí explicó el sábado en un comunicado oficial que desde el comienzo del nuevo plan las fuerzas de seguridad han matado a 400 supuestos insurgentes y detenido a otros 426.

Actualizado lunes 26/02/2007 17:26 (CET)
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El Reino Unido afronta la mayor amenaza terrorista desde el 11S

Más de 2.000 simpatizantes de Al Qaeda están conspirando para atacar objetivos sensibles, como la red de transportes o el centro financiero de Londres



El Reino Unido afronta actualmente la mayor amenaza terrorista desde los atentados perpetrados el 11 de septiembre del 2001 en EEUU, según un informe del espionaje británico al que ha tenido acceso el Sunday Telegraph.

Según publicaba ayer ese dominical británico, el documento, titulado "Terrorismo internacional en el Reino Unido", indica que la amenaza proviene de simpatizantes de la red terrorista Al Qaeda residentes en este país.

"La escala de las ambiciones de Al Qaeda para atacar el Reino Unido y el número de extremistas dispuestos a participar en los ataques es mucho mayor de lo que previamente habíamos estimado", señala el informe.

El documento advierte también de que "la planificación de ataques" contra Gran Bretaña aumentará en el 2007.

"Creemos que AQ (Al Qaeda) seguirá buscando oportunidades para cometer atentados que causen muchas víctimas contra objetivos sensibles e infraestructura clave. Es probable que esos ataques impliquen el uso de suicidas", añade el informe.

El texto menciona asimismo que Al Qaeda se ha convertido en una organización internacional con ramas en prácticamente todos los países musulmanes del norte de África, Oriente Próximo y Asia central.

En noviembre pasado, la jefa del servicio de contraespionaje británico MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, ya alertó de que sus agentes investigan hasta 30 tramas para atentar contra el Reino Unido, donde operan al menos 200 células terroristas y unos 1.600 sospechosos.

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Al Qaeda resurgent

Almost five and a half years ago, America, united by the shock of 9/11, understood exactly what it needed to do. It had to find, thwart and take down the command structure of Al Qaeda, which was responsible for the deaths of 3,000 innocent people on American soil.



Despite years of costly warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq, America today is not significantly closer to that essential goal. At a crucial moment, the Bush administration diverted America's military strength, political attention and foreign-aid dollars from a necessary, winnable war in Afghanistan to an unnecessary, and by now unwinnable, war in Iraq. Al Qaeda took full advantage of these blunders to survive and rebuild. Now it seems to be back in business.

As New York Times reporters Mark Mazzetti and David Rohde reported last week, American intelligence and counterterrorism officials believe that Al Qaeda has rebuilt its notorious training camps, this time in Pakistan's loosely governed tribal regions near the Afghan border.

Camp graduates are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq — and may well be plotting new terrorist strikes in the West. The same officials point to more frequent and more current videos as evidence that Al Qaeda's top leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri — once on the run for their lives and unable to maintain timely communications with their followers — now feel more secure. Al Qaeda is not as strong as it was when its Taliban allies ruled Afghanistan. But, the officials warn, it is getting there.

Al Qaeda's comeback didn't have to happen. And it must not be allowed to continue. The new Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan do not operate with the blessing of the Pakistani government. But Pakistan's military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf, has not tried very hard to drive them out. In recent months he has virtually conceded the tribal areas to local leaders sympathetic to Al Qaeda. President George W. Bush needs to warn him that continued American backing depends on his doing more to rid his country of people being trained to kill Americans.

Washington also has to enlist more support on the Afghan side of the border. NATO allies need to drop restrictions that hobble their troops' ability to fight a resurgent Taliban. Afghan leaders need to wage a more aggressive campaign against corruption and drug trafficking. And Washington needs to pour significantly more money into rural development, to give Afghan farmers alternatives to drug cultivation. One reason Musharraf has been hedging his bets with the Taliban and Al Qaeda is his growing doubt that Washington is determined to succeed in Afghanistan.

Having failed to finish off Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Washington now finds itself fighting Qaeda-affiliated groups on multiple fronts, most recently in Somalia. Al Qaeda's comeback in Pakistan is a devastating indictment of Bush's flawed strategies and misplaced Iraq obsession. Unless the president changes course, the dangers to America and its friends will continue to multiply.

Published: February 25, 2007
Copyright © 2007 the International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/25/opinion/edqaeda.php

Aumenta la amenaza de Al Qaeda en Reino Unido, según un diario

LONDRES (Reuters) - Más de 2.000 miembros británicos de Al Qaeda están planeando atentados suicidas en Reino Unido, informó el domingo el diario Sunday Telegraph, citando un documento secreto de los servicios de inteligencia.



La amenaza de seguridad está en su nivel más alto desde los atentados del 11 de septiembre contra Estados Unidos, y la planificación de ataques contra objetivos británicos aumentará aún más en 2007, según el documento "Evaluación de la Amenaza Extremista" citado por el periódico.

"La escala de las ambiciones de Al Qaeda para atacar a Reino Unido y el número de extremistas británicos dispuestos a participar en ataques son mayores aún que lo que habíamos pensado anteriormente", dijo el Sunday Telegraph citando el documento.

Reino Unido sufrió su peor ataque en tiempos de paz en julio de 2005 cuando cuatro británicos se inmolaron en la red de transportes de Londres, matando a 52 pasajeros e hiriendo a cientos más.

El informe dijo que Afganistán, donde se prevé que sean enviadas más tropas británicas en breve, era el principal emplazamiento de los terroristas que planean la yihad o una guerra santa contra Occidente.

Dijo que Al Qaeda era "resistente y efectiva" en Irak, mientras que su entorno operativo y posición financiera en Pakistán había mejorado.

Un portavoz de la unidad antiterrorista de Scotland Yard declaró: "La amenaza es real y genuina como acontecimientos de los últimos meses y años han demostrado". No quiso realizar ningún comentario específico sobre la noticia del diario.

Eliza Manningham-Buller, responsable de la agencia de inteligencia MI5, dijo en noviembre que extremistas musulmanes estaban planeando al menos 30 grandes atentados en Reino Unido y que las amenazas podrían incluir artefactos químicos y nucleares.

Dijo que jóvenes musulmanes británicos estaban siendo adiestrados para convertirse en suicidas y que sus agentes estaban siguiendo a unos 1.600 sospechosos, la mayoría nacidos en Reino Unido y vinculados a Al Qaeda en Pakistán.

25 de febrero de 2007 - 13:34
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"Los tentáculos de Al Qaeda alcanzan al Sahel"

ENTREVISTA: La lucha contra el terrorismo internacional CHAKIB BENMUSSA Ministro del Interior de Marruecos



Chakib Benmussa, nacido en Fez hace 48 años, se formó en las mejores escuelas de ingeniería de Francia y en el prestigioso Massachusetts Institute of Technology de Estados Unidos. Fue consultor en ingeniería e investigó la hidrodinámica hasta que se acercó a la Administración, empezando por el Ministerio de Infraestructuras de Marruecos. Hace cuatro años entró por la puerta grande en el de Interior como secretario general. Ahora, desde hace un año, es su ministro.

Pregunta. A juzgar por las oleadas de detenciones, hay muchos marroquíes tentados por el terrorismo.

Respuesta. Intentamos poner énfasis en la anticipación en lugar de reprimir, pero sin caer en la paranoia. Diría que se trata de una labor de saneamiento. Golpeamos los focos en los que se propugna la violencia y se intenta adoctrinar a los jóvenes. Todas las detenciones se practican bajo control judicial. La semana pasada, anuncié en la reunión del Gobierno que elevábamos el nivel de alerta general. Es una manera de movilizar a los servicios de seguridad y de pedir a la población que tenga una actitud vigilante.

P. En Tetuán, de donde son originarios algunos de los presuntos autores del 11-M, hubo muchas detenciones.

R. Tetuán no es objeto de ninguna medida de seguridad especial. Es verdad que a finales de año desmantelamos una red que adoctrinaba a los jóvenes para enviarles a Irak. Una treintena habría logrado llegar hasta allí.

P. La amenaza lleva ahora la etiqueta de los salafistas argelinos.

R. El cambio de nombre de esta organización terrorista, que ahora se llama Al Qaeda de los países del Magreb islámico, significa que intenta ejercer su influencia sobre la región. Quiere reclutar, formar y coordinar a los extremistas del Magreb. Para allanar el camino ha establecido un fuerte vínculo ideológico con la matriz de Al Qaeda.

P. ¿Se está convirtiendo el Sahel en un foco terrorista?

R. El Sahel [franja semidesértica que engloba a Chad, Níger, Malí y Mauritania] está constituido por territorios extensos y poco controlados, en los que han surgido desde hace años todo tipo de tráficos con inmigrantes clandestinos, contrabando de tabaco, armas, etcétera. Subsisten además varios focos de rebelión local y es ahí donde surgen los tentáculos de la rama de Al Qaeda en el Magreb. Esa zona debe ser muy vigilada. Resolver el conflicto del Sáhara crearía las condiciones para reducir la tensión, disminuir los tráficos delictivos y traería estabilidad y seguridad a toda la región.

P. ¿No son un obstáculo en la lucha antiterrorista las relaciones distantes entre los servicios de inteligencia marroquíes y argelinos?

R. La cooperación con Argelia no alcanza los mismos niveles que con Europa, pero existe.

P. ¿Juega EE UU un creciente papel en la lucha antiterrorista en África del noroeste?

R. Hace años que Marruecos advirtió de los riesgos que amenazan la región, sin suscitar ningún interés por parte de los occidentales. Afortunadamente, las cosas están cambiando. Esta percepción del riesgo ha incitado a EE UU a implicarse primero con la iniciativa Pan Sahel y después con otra más específicamente antiterrorista. Aunque estos impulsos los da EE UU, los europeos siguen de cerca lo que pasa.

P. Además de las subvenciones públicas, los pilares de la economía de Ceuta y Melilla son, en buena medida, el contrabando y el blanqueo de dinero. ¿Suponen algún riesgo en materia de seguridad?

R. La economía sumergida, que predomina en ambos enclaves ocupados, estimula el desarrollo de redes mafiosas. El sector informal no puede ser el pilar de un sistema económico. Sé que es difícil, pero hay que tomar medidas para combatirlo.

P. ¿La cooperación policial hispano-marroquí ha mejorado después de los atentados de Casablanca y Madrid?

R. Es excelente y da frutos cada semana con el desmantelamiento de redes mafiosas, detenciones de presuntos terroristas y apresamientos de alijos de droga. Gracias a esta colaboración, hemos abortado numerosas operaciones delictivas en 2006.

P. ¿Podrán algún día los policías de ambos países trabajar juntos, como lo hacen desde hace años españoles y franceses en el suroeste de Francia para luchar contra ETA?

R. Ya lo hacen. No actúan codo con codo físicamente, pero su colaboración no consiste en un mero intercambio de datos. Se coordinan durante semanas, para desarrollar una investigación y desmantelar a un grupo mafioso.

P. Marruecos ha mejorado mucho el control de sus fronteras. ¿Le quedan aún progresos por hacer?

R. Desde 2004 hemos desmantelado 1.150 redes que traficaban con inmigrantes clandestinos y hemos detenido a miles de personas. Tenemos desplegados a 11.000 hombres dedicados a la vigilancia costera, lo que nos cuesta cien millones de euros al año. Los intentos de emigrar desde nuestras costas a España han caído un 60%. Ahora bien, no podemos quedarnos con los brazos cruzados porque las mafias buscan nuevos circuitos, inventan trucos. Pedimos ayuda a la UE, que nos prometió 70 millones de euros, pero no nos ha llegado aún un céntimo.

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Bin Laden se hace fuerte en Pakistán, lucha en Irak y recluta en Europa

Islamabad está en el punto de mira de EE UU a pesar de ser aliado en su "guerra contra el terrorismo"



Negroponte asegura que el grupo islamista tiene escondites "seguros" en Pakistán

Analistas independientes destacan la gravedad de la amenaza que representa Al Qaeda

La amenaza de Al Qaeda sobre Occidente se hace cada día más firme. Mientras los talibanes recuperan los territorios perdidos en Afganistán tras el 11-S, la organización terrorista de Osama Bin Laden campa a sus anchas por Pakistán, se extiende por diversos países -desde Somalia al Magreb- y recluta en Europa, para su ejército mundial, a jóvenes musulmanes no integrados en los países de acogida.

Su gran baza es el estrepitoso fracaso de la política de EE UU en Oriente Próximo y Afganistán, que incluye desde la invasión de Irak y la conversión de este país en un campo de entrenamiento de terroristas suicidas a la incapacidad estadounidense para reconstruir tanto Irak como Afganistán.

Pakistán está en el punto de mira de EE UU. A pesar de tratarse de un aliado clave en su "guerra contra el terrorismo", declaraciones públicas y filtraciones oficiosas han empezado a cuestionar, si no su cooperación, sí su estrategia antiterrorista. La incapacidad del Gobierno de Pervez Musharraf para controlar las regiones tribales fronterizas con Afganistán y el efecto rebote desencadenado en Irak están permitiendo el resurgimiento de Al Qaeda. Todos los analistas consultados coinciden en que el grupo de Bin Laden está organizándose en Pakistán, luchando en Irak y reclutando en Europa.

¿No se había debilitado a Al Qaeda hasta casi anularla? Oficialmente, era el único logro indiscutible de la campaña que Estados Unidos lanzó a raíz el 11-S, tras el fiasco de Irak y la falta de avances en Afganistán. Sin embargo, en los últimos meses, han aumentado los indicios de un resurgir del grupo terrorista. Investigaciones policiales y judiciales han encontrado sus huellas en, entre otros, la trama de los atentados contra el metro de Londres de julio de 2005 y el compló para hacer estallar 10 aviones con explosivos líquidos desmantelado el verano pasado. Todas las pistas llevan a Pakistán, o más concretamente a las regiones tribales de su frontera con Afganistán.

"Bin Laden está reconstruyendo Al Qaeda", titulaba llamativamente el pasado domingo una información de The New York Times. Fuentes de los servicios de información y de la lucha contra el terrorismo de EE UU filtraron a ese diario que, desde Pakistán, la cúpula del grupo ha logrado restablecer un control significativo sobre la red terrorista y establecer una serie de bases de entrenamiento, incluida una que "puede estar entrenando a agentes capaces de atacar objetivos occidentales".

Analistas independientes reconocen la gravedad de la amenaza que continúa representando Al Qaeda, pero niegan que se haya producido un cambio repentino. "No hay nada nuevo, pero la presión [de EE UU] sobre Pakistán está creciendo mucho ante la esperada ofensiva de primavera de los talibanes para la que la OTAN no está preparada y armada de forma adecuada", señala desde Lahore Ahmed Rashid. El autor de Los talibán recuerda que EE UU no ha logrado reunir todas las tropas y helicópteros que deseaba de sus socios en esa alianza militar.

"Al Qaeda ha resurgido, en tanto que organización terrorista, en las áreas tribales de Pakistán, concretamente en el norte y sur de Waziristán, pero no es un proceso que haya ocurrido de súbito, sino que venía desarrollándose desde hace ya tiempo", admite por su parte Fernando Reinares, director del Programa sobre Terrorismo Global del Real Instituto Elcano. Aunque para este analista "no está claro que Al Qaeda disponga allí de la infraestructura y los recursos suficientes como para planificar y ejecutar con éxito grandes atentados", en su opinión sí cuenta con "instalaciones para adoctrinar y entrenar a potenciales terroristas, de origen paquistaní o foráneo, también europeo".

La novedad es sin duda el cambio de actitud de Washington. En contraste con el triunfalismo del presidente Bush el pasado octubre ("Estamos ganando. Al Qaeda está en fuga"), John Negroponte reconoció el pasado enero que persiste la amenaza. En su evaluación anual de riesgos aún como jefe de todas las agencias de inteligencia, hizo oficial lo que ya era un secreto a voces en Islamabad y Kabul, que esa organización ha encontrado escondites "seguros" en Pakistán y "está cultivando conexiones y relaciones" en Oriente Próximo, norte de África y Europa. Esa inusitada crítica a su aliado revelaba la frustración estadounidense por la falta de resultados.

El problema de fondo es la peculiar cultura yihadista que se ha instalado en Pakistán durante las últimas décadas. Después de años de utilizar a los grupos radicales islámicos para avanzar sus objetivos en Cachemira o en Afganistán, esa ideología ha penetrado amplias capas de la sociedad paquistaní. Pero, además, algunos observadores interpretan que el Ejército no termina de pacificar la zona fronteriza porque quiere guardarse una carta en la manga frente a su vecino del oeste.

En cualquier caso, el enfoque puramente militar del problema no da frutos. Antes al contrario, está alentando el extremismo. Las decisiones unilaterales del Ejército ignoran a la población local, predominantemente pastún. Mientras Islamabad no aclare sus relaciones con esa comunidad que se divide a ambos lados de la Línea Durand (la frontera internacional que Afganistán nunca ha reconocido) y por ende con Kabul, cualquier solución será transitoria. Y ocho años después del golpe de Estado de Musharraf, muchos dudan de que un Gobierno militar pueda conseguirlo.

Epicentro ideológico

"Pakistán es en la actualidad el epicentro ideológico y organizativo en la reproducción del terrorismo internacional que se relaciona con la yihad neosalafista global liderada por Al Qaeda", señala Fernando Reinares, director del Programa sobre Terrorismo Global del Real Instituto Elcano. Islamabad refuta con energía esta acusación y menciona los 800 muertos que sus fuerzas de seguridad han sufrido combatiendo a los terroristas desde el 11-S.

Sin embargo, algunos hechos cuestionan el proceder paquistaní. Por ejemplo, el alto el fuego alcanzado el pasado septiembre entre el Gobierno y los líderes tribales de Waziristán del Norte, uno de los siete distritos semiautónomos fronterizos con Afganistán. Allí se refugiaron los talibanes y la cúpula de Al Qaeda a raíz de los bombardeos estadounidenses de 2001. Desde entonces, Estados Unidos presiona a Islamabad para que capture o expulse de allí a Bin Laden y sus secuaces. Pero el abandono histórico de esas regiones y años de aliento a los extremistas han hecho fracasar la campaña militar y, ante el coste humano y político, el presidente Pervez Musharraf optó por el apaciguamiento.

ÁNGELES ESPINOSA - Teherán - 25/02/2007
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Al Qaeda tenía una planta de bombas de cloro en Irak: EEUU

BAGDAD (Reuters) - Militantes de Al Qaeda en Irak se preparaban para fabricar armas químicas utilizando cloro en una fábrica de coches bomba descubierta al oeste de Bagdad esta semana, dijo el sábado el Ejército de Estados Unidos.



El Ejército dijo que la instalación ubicada en Karma, al este de Falluja, estaba vinculada con recientes ataques en los que se utilizó cloro para transformar explosivos en armas químicas de fabricación casera que liberaron gases asfixiantes y enfermaron a decenas de personas.

La teniente coronel Valery Keaveny dijo a periodistas a través de una vídeo conferencia desde la occidental provincia de Anbar que las fuerzas estadounidenses hallaron panfletos de propaganda de Al Qaeda y "varios DVD interactivos" en la fábrica, que fue registrada el martes.

"Esto es absolutamente una demostración de que Al Qaeda está intentando ajustar sus crueles tácticas. ¿Es esto una amenaza? Sí," dijo Keaveny.

Dos bombas que explotaron esta semana que contenían cloro provocaron la muerte de al menos ocho personas en Bagdad y Taji, justo al norte de la capital. Las bombas ocasionaron que decenas de personas se enfermaran tras inhalar gas liberado en las explosiones.

En la fábrica de Karma, las tropas estadounidenses encontraron cinco vehículos, morteros y ráfagas de artillería, bombas de fabricación casera, tanques de propano y tres barriles de cloro.

Otros tres barrile
s contenían nitroglicerina, un producto químico utilizado como un acelerador para explosivos.

"Tenían todas las municiones, todos los coches. Los productos químicos encontrados aún no habían sido introducido en armas, pero probablemente planeaban usarlos," dijo el capitán Matt Gregory, comandante de la unidad que halló la fábrica. Un iraquí fue detenido en la operación.

Sábado 24 de Febrero, 2007 12:43 GMT163
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Al menos 37 muertos en la explosión de un camión bomba cerca de una mezquita suní en Irak

Otras 60 personas resultan heridas en el atentado ocurrido en la provincia de Al Anbar, principal feudo de la resistencia árabe suní



Al menos 37 personas han muerto y otras 60 han resultado heridas en un atentado con un camión bomba cerca de una mezquita suní al oeste de Bagdad, según han informado a Efe fuentes policiales. Según su relato, la explosión ha ocurrido en la zona de Habaniya, a unos 60 kilómetros al oeste de Bagdad, en la provincia de Al Anbar, el principal feudo de la resistencia árabe suní del país.

La mayoría de las víctimas son fieles que se dirigían a la mezquita para realizar los rezos de la tarde, según han afirmado las fuentes, que han agregado que el estallido ha causado daños a la mezquita, a una comisaría, y a varias tiendas y viviendas.

Este atentado tiene lugar pocas horas después de que al menos ocho policías iraquíes hayan muerto y otros dos hayan resultado heridos en un ataque lanzado por un grupo de hombres armados contra un puesto policial cerca del aeropuerto internacional de Bagdad, al oeste de la capital.

Según un comunicado del ejército estadounidense, el control de los agentes ha sido atacado por entre ocho o diez hombres que se desplazaban en dos vehículos. La nota agrega que en la agresión los rebeldes han empleado metralletas y bombas de mano. En el tiroteo dos de los atacantes han muerto, mientras que el resto ha conseguido huir.

400 insurgentes muertos con el plan de seguridad de Bagdad

El primer ministro iraquí, Nuri al Maliki, ha asegurado que desde el comienzo del nuevo plan de seguridad para Bagdad, el pasado 13 de febrero, las fuerzas de seguridad han matado a 400 supuestos insurgentes y detenido a otros 426, según un comunicado oficial. La nota agrega que los "terroristas" habían sido abatidos o detenidos en diferentes operaciones, registros y enfrentamientos.

Al Maliki ha recordado que "el plan de seguridad de Bagdad tiene como objetivo desmontar la infraestructura de las organizaciones que sirven de lanzadera para los ataques terroristas". Además, ha subrayado que con la destrucción de estas organizaciones,"ya estén formadas por iraquíes o por extranjeros" se impide la intervención extranjera en los asuntos iraquíes.

Asimismo, ha aclarado que la estrategia no se limita a Bagdad y que en cuanto finalice dentro de los límites en los que actualmente se desarrolla se extenderá para perseguir a los terroristas en todas las provincias. El plan de seguridad, bautizado con el nombre Aplicamos la ley, en el que participan 85.000 agentes de seguridad iraquíes y estadounidenses, tiene como objetivo la restauración de la seguridad en la capital iraquí y sus alrededores.

EFE - Bagdad - 24/02/2007
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Los servicios de inteligencia alertan del riesgo de que aumenten los ataques en Afganistán

El CIFAS y el CNI vaticinan una escalada de la violencia talibán durante la próxima primavera



El Centro de Inteligencia de las Fuerzas Armadas (CIFAS) y el Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI), los dos servicios adscritos al Ministerio de Defensa, vienen advirtiendo desde hace meses del deterioro de la seguridad en Afganistán y del riesgo de que aumenten los ataques contra las tropas españolas cuando llegue la primavera.

La muerte por la explosión de una mina de la soldado Idoia Rodríguez Buján, que será enterrada hoy en su localidad natal de Friol (Lugo), confirma los peores augurios. En mayo pasado, el Congreso aprobó el envío de 150 soldados más, la mitad de los solicitados por los mandos militares. Ahora, los planes de nuevos refuerzos han quedado aparcados tras descartarlos públicamente el jefe del Gobierno.

El año pasado, con más de 4.000 muertos, fue el más violento en Afganistán desde la guerra de 2001. Este año podría serlo aún más, a la luz de los pronósticos de la OTAN y de los propios servicios de inteligencia españoles. La recuperación de los talibanes, apoyados en la impopularidad de la corrupta e ineficaz Administración de Karzai, es un hecho constatado por todos los observadores.

Cuando llegue el deshielo, podrán bajar de las montañas y multiplicar los actos de hostigamiento contra la Fuerza Internacional de Asistencia para la Seguridad de Afganistán (ISAF).

Pero incluso si la temida ofensiva de primavera no llegara a producirse, el recrudecimiento de la violencia está garantizado, a juicio de los expertos, pues EE UU, que dirige desde febrero pasado las tropas de la OTAN, ha anunciado que emprenderá operaciones para expulsar a los talibanes de sus santuarios en la permeable frontera paquistaní.

Los servicios de inteligencia coinciden en que la reanudación de los combates en el este y el sur del país acabará repercutiendo en el resto. "La insurgencia funciona como vasos comunicantes. Si se siente presionada en una zona, buscará el punto de menor resistencia", opina un experto.

Farah y Shindand

La provincia de Farah, la más meridional de la cuatro de la región oeste, donde la compañía española de reacción rápida (QRF) presta apoyo a un equipo de reconstrucción (PRT) estadounidense, se considera una de las de mayor riesgo y lo mismo sucede con el distrito de Shindand, perteneciente a la provincia de Herat pero limítrofe con Farah, donde el miércoles perdió la vida Idoia Rodríguez y en noviembre sufrieron las tropas españolas su primer atentado suicida.

La provincia de Badghis, bajo responsabilidad del PRT español, es aún relativamente tranquila, pero se ha detectado la presencia de talibanes al norte, cerca de Turkmenistán, y la situación podría complicarse si Kabul cumpliera su promesa de arrasar los campos de adormidera, principal fuente de ingresos del país.

En mayo del año pasado, el pleno del Congreso aprobó incrementar en 150 los efectivos españoles en Afganistán, hasta los actuales 690. Fue una sesión tempestuosa en la que apenas se debatió la situación de las tropas, pues el PP se dedicó a abroncar al nuevo ministro de Defensa, José Antonio Alonso, por su gestión al frente de Interior.

Lo cierto es que el aumento autorizado por el Congreso sólo suponía la mitad del solicitado por los mandos militares, unos 300 en total, y se demoró considerablemente, debido a la dimisión del anterior ministro, José Bono.

Una vez obtenida la luz verde política, el refuerzo tampoco fue inmediato. Por ejemplo, el envío de los BMR, cuyo blindaje ha salvado la vida a varios soldados españoles -aunque no desgraciadamente a Idoia-, supuso una complejísima operación logística, primero por barco, hasta Karachi (Pakistán), luego en avión y al final por carretera.

A finales de enero pasado, Alonso viajó a Afganistán. Entre sus objetivos estaba el de estudiar sobre el terreno las necesidades de seguridad del contingente. Le había precedido el jefe del Mando de Operaciones, Bernardo Álvarez del Manzano, quien giró una visita de inspección.

El coronel del PRT de Qala-e-Naw, Rafael Roel, expuso al ministro "la necesidad de presencia permanente [de tropas españolas] en distritos del norte [de la provincia lo] que implica [la] creación de [una] base avanzada en la zona de Bala Morghab". También, según documentos de la visita, le planteó la conveniencia de un "nuevo diseño de fuerzas para garantizar otras capacidades, como zapadores". Preguntado por los periodistas, Alonso dejó abierta la puerta a un aumento del contingente.
Sorpresa y preocupación

Sin embargo, sólo un día después del regreso del ministro a España, el presidente José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero descartó públicamente cualquier incremento. Sus declaraciones pillaron por sorpresa al jefe del Estado Mayor de la Defensa, Félix Sanz, y causaron preocupación en los mandos militares, que trabajaban en una propuesta de incremento de unos 150 efectivos que ha quedado aparcada desde entonces.

En un seminario a puerta cerrada que se celebró en el Centro Superior de la Defensa Nacional (Ceseden), el general Álvarez del Manzano se limitó a contestar, según las notas de un asistente: "Yo no he dicho que haya que aumentar el número de efectivos, lo que digo es que la entidad y calidad de los efectivos se deben adaptar a la misión, a los continuos cambios de la situación y a los objetivos que se persigan".

Tras el fallecimiento de la soldado Idoia Rodríguez, Alonso ha insistido en que el número de efectivos no influye en la seguridad. Muchos expertos militares no comparten este juicio: "No es lo mismo tener un centinela que tres, ni da igual ir sobrado de recursos que apurado".

A juzgar por los gráficos que mostraron a Alonso en Qala-e-Naw, los militares españoles parecen sentirse apurados. Uno de los cuadros incluía la siguiente comparación: "Zona de Operaciones en Kosovo, 470 kilómetros cuadrados; militares, 587. Zona de Operaciones en Afganistán, 21.858 kilómetros cuadrados; militares, 195".

MIGUEL GONZÁLEZ - Madrid - 24/02/2007
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Extra British troops to combat Taliban push

The defence secretary, Des Browne, is expected to announce on Monday a fresh deployment of more than 1,000 extra troops and equipment to Afghanistan to combat an expected spring offensive by the Taliban .



The increase in forces was reported to the cabinet yesterday amid what was described as a heavy discussion about the situation in the country and the efforts needed to shore up the government in Kabul. The new military push is expected to cost the Treasury £250m.

Next week's announcement follows a Nato-led review of its Afghan deployment and the Bush government's announcement last week to spend an extra £5.4bn to bolster its Afghan effort.

Nato currently has 35,000 troops in Afghanistan of which 5,000 are British, stationed in Helmand province, a one-time Taliban stronghold still responsible for 60% of Afghan opium production.

The deeper British commitment comes only a day after Tony Blair told MPs of plans for a 1,600 cut in British forces in southern Iraq by the summer to roughly 7,100, with further planned reductions later in the year. It also comes after the Italian coalition government led by Romano Prodi resigned on Tuesday after it lost a vote in parliament largely over its plans to retain nearly 2,000 troops in Afghanistan.

The British military has been pressing No 10 privately for an increase in Afghan deployment, with some insisting the battle for Afghan hearts and minds is more winnable than those of Iraqis. Discussion at yesterday's cabinet meeting was described as serious, with some left with the impression that the British troop commitment in Afghanistan may soon be larger than in Iraq.

Neither the Ministry of Defence nor Downing Street was prepared to provide any details of Mr Browne's announcements.

Nato has been preparing for an increase in Taliban activity once the winter snows melt, and is also concerned that its plans to slash farmers' relatively remunerative poppy production could lead to a backlash.

A lack of intelligence cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan has led to angry Afghan allegations that the Pakistani government has allowed the Taliban to regroup, so making their country prey again to terrorists and narcotics. The lack of cooperation is partly due to a century-long border dispute between the two countries.

Until recently, the British deployment in Afghanistan has been politically less controversial than that in Iraq. But some Conservatives, including the chairman of the defence select committee, James Arbuthnot, have expressed increasing worries that Nato is trying to bring to Afghanistan the concepts of the rule of law and central government, neither of which the country has ever actually had or wanted.

Mr Arbuthnot warned these efforts at nation building were coming at the same time as coalition forces were destroying the livelihood of many Afghans.

"That is not a recipe for success," he warned. "There is no sense of any co-ordinated campaign plan to win the hearts and minds of people in Afghanistan."

There has been a threefold increase in Taliban attacks over the past four months. There have also been tensions between the US and the UK on the degree to which the Taliban can be defeated without making difficult political alliances with local warlords.

A Royal Marine died in Afghanistan yesterday, the second in two days, the MoD said last night. The marine, from 42 Commando, died as a result of injuries he suffered in a road traffic accident earlier this month.

The other marine, who was killed on Wednesday when he stepped on a mine, was named yesterday as Jonathan Holland, 23, from 45 Commando, who was engaged to be married.

Patrick Wintour, political editor
Friday February 23, 2007
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Another 1,500 British troops being sent to keep control in Afghanistan

An extra battle group of up to 1,500 British troops is to be sent to Afghanistan to take on the Taleban over the next few months, the Government will announce on Monday. The extensive reinforcement, bringing the number of British troops in Afghanistan to about 7,000, has been agreed with Nato after alliance partners failed to offer more infantry units to fight in the south.



General Bantz Craddock, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (Saceur), had appealed to all Nato members to come up with additional troops during a defence ministers’ meeting in Seville this month.

Whitehall sources said that, apart from “a few bits and pieces”, no one had offered fighting troops. “We felt we couldn’t wait any longer because it would risk unravelling all the achievements we have been making in the south, so we have offered another battle group,” one said.

The deployment of up to 1,500 more troops, with armoured vehicles and extra helicopters, will be timed for when a British general takes command of the southern region in May. Major-General Jacko Page, whose 6th Division headquarters will be in Kandahar, had specifically asked for more.The new battle group will be formed into a reserve force that can be sent to any part of southern Afghanistan, not just Helmand, where 5,000 British troops are based. A further 500 are in Kabul, the capital.

The reinforcements will arrive at a time when the Taleban are expected to launch an offensive against Nato troops in the south, in an attempt to drive them out of their former strongholds in Helmand and Kandahar. Previous attempts have failed and the Taleban have suffered substantial losses.

Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, who confirmed last night that more troops would be sent, is expected to make a statement to the Commons on Monday. It will mean that Britain will have up to 6,500 soldiers in southern Afghanistan.

Mr Browne is also expected to announce the withdrawal of the 600 British troops in Bosnia. He told The Times in December that their role had become limited to policing. With the withdrawal of 1,600 troops from Iraq in May and June, as well as the Bosnia pullout, the strain on the Army will be eased, and it will make sending another 1,500 troops to Afghanistan less of a problem.

Defence sources said that there was no direct link between the pullout of 1,600 troops from Iraq and the reinforcing of the British military in Afghanistan, although they recognised that some would try to draw a connection.

“It’s really a coincidence. We have been forced to send more troops to Afghanistan because we feel it’s vital to maintain the progress we are already making,” one source said.

Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said it was clear that the appeal to Nato for more troops had fallen on deaf ears. “Those [extra] troops should be coming from countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain who have so far not shown the adequate resolve to be part of a full Nato complement in Afghanistan,” he told Today on BBC Radio 4.

Nato is running the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan with a total complement of about 35,000 troops, but most of the contributions from Nato members are small. The United States has provided the biggest force — 27,000, of whom 15,500 serve under Nato — followed by Britain.

“Too many of our European partners are now pocketing the Nato security guarantee but leaving UK taxpayers and the UK military to carry the cost,” Dr Fox said.

A Royal Marine who died after a vehicle accident in Afghanistan was named yesterday as Marine Scott Summers, 23, of 42 Commando. Marine Summers, from Crawley, West Sussex, had been in Afghanistan since last October.

Michael Evans, Defence Editor
From The Times
February 24, 2007
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The border post where bribes buy an easy entry for Taleban

The border town of Spin Boldak is a dangerous place. Men in black turbans zip around on motorbikes, smugglers rub shoulders with the Taleban, the border police are corrupt and weapons and drugs are everywhere.



The town is dusty, smoky and rugged, like a Wild West frontier town. The difference is that there is no alcohol and fortunes are made smuggling heroin, not prospecting for gold.

“Just nine miles (15km) over there is a Taleban training camp,” Muhammad Nasim, 27, the head of the Afghan border police, told The Times pointing into Pakistan to a cluster of mud buildings.

“The Taleban have no problem crossing the border . . . they are trained by Pakistan.” The ease with which Taleban fighters can pass through an official border crossing is certain to concern British troops in Helmand province, which borders Kandahar.

Intelligence reports suggest that Taleban fighters are massing in Quetta, across the border, for a spring offensive and it is feared that Britain’s 5,000 troops in Helmand will bear the brunt of it.

Pakistan has given repeated assurances that it is clamping down on Taleban insurgents after accusations by Afghan and Western officials that they get training, finance and a safe haven in the neighbouring province of Balochistan. President Musharraf of Pakistan has said he will mine and fence known insurgent crossings.

The picture on the ground is very different: here at the main border crossing guards were seen taking bribes in a way that would allow smugglers, Taleban fighters or even suicide bombers through checkpoints unchallenged.

“It’s all bulls**t that Musharraf is trying to stop them. He supports the Taleban. They [the Pakistanis] give them weapons and training,” said Khaliq Daad, 32, a fierce-looking, one-eyed smuggler who lives in Chaman on the Pakistani side of the border.

“We have to pay bribes every day to the Pakistanis so that they don’t search our vehicles,” said Zadar Muhammad, 30, another smuggler from the town of Chaman.

For less than the equivalent of £1, a man with no passport can pass through Pakistani and Afghan checkpoints without so much as a frisking; for £25 a driver can get his truck through without documents.

The road is paved from Spin Boldak to Quetta, capital of Balochistan, and about 50,000 people cross the border every day. It is believed that among the masses are Taleban fighters and suicide bombers who use Quetta as a training ground and a place to rest during the winter months.

When The Times visited the border post, Pakistani guards could clearly be seen taking bribes and allowing people through without searching them. It is not just Pakistanis who take bribes, however.

“Both sides are asking for bribes,” Akhtar Muhammad, 28, the second-in-command of the Afghan police force in Spin Boldak, told The Times with alarming honestly.

What makes the border so tricky to police is that many of the local tribes don’t recognise it as a border at all. The Durand Line between Pakistan and Afghanistan was drawn up by the British in 1893 to split up the fierce Pashtun tribesmen who inhabit these parts. The border split families up and tribesman still cross the border for tea with a relative.

“The world should realise we don’t recognise this as a border. It’s difficult to tolerate as we are one people and one nation,” Akhtar Muhammad said.


Tim Albone in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province
From The Times
February 24, 2007
© Copyright Times Newspapers Ltd
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1431756.ece

Insurgents Broaden Arsenal in Battles With U.S., Iraqi Forces

Insurgents in Iraq are employing a variety of new tactics -- from an unprecedented string of helicopter shoot-downs to unusual chlorine bomb attacks and direct assaults on U.S. military bases -- that American commanders say are intended to create chaos and undermine the U.S. and Iraqi military push to quell violence in Baghdad.



Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, said Thursday that he believed a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that went down Wednesday north of Baghdad had been shot down -- which would make it the eighth U.S. military or civilian aircraft to be downed by insurgents since Jan. 20.

"Initial reports that I have seen indicate enemy fire," Odierno told Pentagon reporters during a teleconference from Baghdad. Helicopters are essential to U.S. military operations, he said, and will fly an estimated 400,000 hours in Iraq this year, making it vital to protect them.

Odierno said he believed that "al-Qaeda-associated cells" using similar tactics are behind at least some of the shoot-downs. He said U.S. raids in recent days have led to the capture of two suspected cell members, one of whom admitted he was involved in shooting down an aircraft. The Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq has asserted responsibility for several of the recent attacks on U.S. helicopters.

Chlorine-laced bombs are another new tactic. Four more people died Thursday in Baghdad after ingesting chlorine fumes from a blast the day before on the road leading to the capital's airport, raising the death toll in the attack to seven people, said Col. Sami Hassan of the Interior Ministry.

"This is just the first time that we've seen the chlorine used in this way," said Lt. Col. Christopher C. Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. He said he knew of no more than two or three people who died from ingesting the chlorine, a common industrial chemical used heavily in water treatment and not a "weaponized-chemical" agent capable of inflicting mass casualties.

Wednesday's bombing was the third time in a month that insurgents rigged chlorine tanks to their explosives to increase the deadliness of their attacks, military officials said. The day before, insurgents blew up a truck carrying chlorine gas tanks in Taji, north of Baghdad, in an attack that killed nine people. In late January, another truck carrying explosives and chlorine tanks exploded near Ramadi, killing 16 people.

Insurgents are attempting to "adapt in such ways where they can continue to create instability. And that's what they're doing, especially with these" vehicle bombs incorporating chlorine, Odierno said. He added that U.S. and Iraqi forces stationed around Baghdad were taking steps to keep car bombs out of crowded areas. U.S. troops discovered a car-bomb factory Tuesday outside Fallujah that contained chlorine cylinders, he said.

More aggressive, direct attacks by insurgents on bases housing the U.S. military are another troubling development. Last month, four American soldiers were killed after being kidnapped at their compound in Karbala, and a suicide bomb attack this week on a U.S. military facility in Tarmiyah north of Baghdad left three soldiers dead.

On Thursday, U.S. soldiers killed at least 12 suspected insurgents and wounded three others in a six-hour battle starting at 7:30 p.m. in eastern Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province in western Iraq.

Soldiers from Task Force 1-9 were attacked by small-arms fire and found insurgents in several buildings in the area, said 1st Lt. Shawn Mercer, a Marine spokesman in western Iraq.

Soldiers used heavy machine guns and one shoulder-fired rocket, and eventually "precision-guided munitions," which damaged buildings, he said. "We have no reports of civilian casualties, and there were no coalition casualties," he said.


Partlow reported from Baghdad.
By Ann Scott Tyson and Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 23, 2007; Page A15
© 2007 The Washington Post Company
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U.S. Used Base in Ethiopia to Hunt Al Qaeda

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 — The American military quietly waged a campaign from Ethiopia last month to capture or kill top leaders of Al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa, including the use of an airstrip in eastern Ethiopia to mount airstrikes against Islamic militants in neighboring Somalia, according to American officials.



The close and largely clandestine relationship with Ethiopia also included significant sharing of intelligence on the Islamic militants’ positions and information from American spy satellites with the Ethiopian military. Members of a secret American Special Operations unit, Task Force 88, were deployed in Ethiopia and Kenya, and ventured into Somalia, the officials said.

The counterterrorism effort was described by American officials as a qualified success that disrupted terrorist networks in Somalia, led to the death or capture of several Islamic militants and involved a collaborative relationship with Ethiopia that had been developing for years.

But the tally of the dead and captured does not as yet include some Qaeda leaders — including Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam — whom the United States has hunted for their suspected roles in the attacks on American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. With Somalia still in a chaotic state, and American and African officials struggling to cobble together a peacekeeping force for the war-ravaged country, the long-term effects of recent American operations remain unclear.

It has been known for several weeks that American Special Operations troops have operated inside Somalia and that the United States carried out two strikes on Qaeda suspects using AC-130 gunships. But the extent of American cooperation with the recent Ethiopian invasion into Somalia and the fact that the Pentagon secretly used an airstrip in Ethiopia to carry out attacks have not been previously reported. The secret campaign in the Horn of Africa is an example of a more aggressive approach the Pentagon has taken in recent years to dispatch Special Operations troops globally to hunt high-level terrorism suspects. President Bush gave the Pentagon powers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to carry out these missions, which historically had been reserved for intelligence operatives.

When Ethiopian troops first began a large-scale military offensive in Somalia late last year, officials in Washington denied that the Bush administration had given its tacit approval to the Ethiopian government. In interviews over the past several weeks, however, officials from several American agencies with a hand in Somalia policy have described a close alliance between Washington and the Ethiopian government that was developed with a common purpose: rooting out Islamic radicalism inside Somalia.

Indeed, the Pentagon for several years has been training Ethiopian troops for counterterrorism operations in camps near the Somalia border, including Ethiopian special forces called the Agazi Commandos, which were part of the Ethiopian offensive in Somalia.

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to discuss details of the American operation, but some officials agreed to provide specifics because they saw it as a relative success story. They said that the close relationship had included the sharing of battlefield intelligence on the Islamists’ positions — a result of an Ethiopian request to Gen. John P. Abizaid, then the commander of the United States Central Command. John D. Negroponte, the director of national intelligence at the time, then authorized spy satellites to be diverted to provide information for Ethiopian troops, the officials said.

The deepening American alliance with Ethiopia is the latest twist in the United States’ on-and-off intervention in Somalia, beginning with an effort in 1992 to distribute food to starving Somalis and evolving into deadly confrontation in 1993 between American troops and fighters loyal to a Somali warlord, Mohammed Farah Aidid. The latest chapter began last June when the Council of Islamic Courts, an armed fundamentalist movement, defeated a coalition of warlords backed by the Central Intelligence Agency and took power in Mogadishu, the capital. The Islamists were believed to be sheltering Qaeda militants involved in the embassy bombings, as well as in a 2002 hotel bombing in Kenya.

After a failed C.I.A. effort to arm and finance Somali warlords, the Bush administration decided on a policy to bolster Somalia’s weak transitional government. This decision brought the American policy in line with Ethiopia’s.

As the Islamists’ grip on power grew stronger, their militias began to encircle Baidoa, where the transitional government was operating in virtual exile. Ethiopian officials pledged that if the Islamists attacked Baidoa, they would respond with a full-scale assault.

While Washington resisted officially endorsing an Ethiopian invasion, American officials from several government agencies said that the Bush administration decided last year that an incursion was the best option to dislodge the Islamists from power.

When the Ethiopian offensive began on Dec. 24, it soon turned into a rout, somewhat to the Americans’ surprise. Armed with American intelligence, the Ethiopians’ tank columns, artillery batteries and military jets made quick work of the poorly trained and ill-equipped Islamist militia.

“The Ethiopians just wiped out entire grid squares; it was a blitzkrieg,” said one official in Washington who had helped develop the strategy toward Somalia.

As the Islamists retreated, the Qaeda operatives and their close aides fled south toward a swampy region. Using information provided by Ethiopian forces in Somalia as well as American intelligence, a task force from the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command began planning direct strikes.

On Dec. 31, the largely impotent transitional government of Somalia submitted a formal request to the American ambassador in Kenya asking for the United States to take action against the militants.

General Abizaid called Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and informed him that the Central Command was sending additional Special Operations forces to the region. The deployment was carried out under the terms of an earlier, classified directive that gave the military the authority to kill or capture senior Qaeda operatives if it was determined that the failure to act expeditiously meant the United States would lose a “fleeting opportunity” to neutralize the enemy, American officials said.

On Jan. 6, two Air Force AC-130 gunships, aircraft with devastating firepower, arrived at a small airport in eastern Ethiopia. American Special Operations troops operating in Kenya, working with the Kenyan military, also set up positions along the southern border to capture militants trying to flee the country.

A Navy flotilla began to search for ships that might be carrying fleeing Qaeda operatives. Support planes were deployed in Djibouti. F-15Es from Al Udeid air base in Qatar also flew missions. Intelligence was shared with Ethiopia and Kenya through C.I.A. operatives in each country. American military planners also worked directly with Ethiopian and Kenyan military officials.

On Jan. 7, one day after the AC-130s arrived in Ethiopia, the airstrike was carried our near Ras Kamboni, an isolated fishing village on the Kenyan border.

According to American officials, the primary target of the strike was Aden Hashi Ayro, a young military commander trained in Afghanistan who was one of the senior leaders of the Council of Islamic Courts.

Several hours after the strike, Ethiopian troops and one member of the American Special Operations team arrived at the site and confirmed that eight people had been killed and three wounded, all of whom were described as being armed. After sifting through the debris, they found a bloodied passport and other items that led them to believe Mr. Ayro was injured in the strike and probably died. Several members of the Special Operations team were also in Somalia at the time of the strike, one official said.

The second AC-130 strike, on Jan. 23, had another of the Islamic council’s senior leaders, Sheik Ahmed Madobe, as its target. Mr. Madobe survived and was later captured by the Ethiopians, Americans say.

American officials said that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, the mastermind of the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the alleged ringleader of Al Qaeda’s East African cell, remains at large. Some officials caution that while the Ethiopians have said additional “high-priority targets,” including Abu Talha al-Sudani, a leading member of the cell, were killed in their own airstrikes, American intelligence officials have yet to confirm this.

In late January, American officials played a role in securing the safe passage of Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the second-highest-ranking Islamist leader, from southern Somalia to Nairobi, Kenya. The exact role of American involvement is still not clear, but some American officials consider him to be a moderate Islamist.


By MICHAEL R. GORDON and MARK MAZZETTI
Published: February 23, 2007
Jeffrey Gettleman contributed reporting from Nairobi, Kenya.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
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Los talibán amenazan a los militares extranjeros desplegados en Afganistán

'No es sólo una amenaza, lo demostraremos', ha afirmado el 'mulá' Dadullah a Reuters



.- Rearmados, según sus propias amenazas, los talibán afirman que este año será el más sangriento para los militares extranjeros desplegados en Afganistán desde 2001, año en que se expulsó de Kabul a los 'estudiantes de teología'. El pasado miércoles, la soldado española Idoia Rodríguez murió en un atentado.

"No es sólo una amenaza, lo demostraremos", ha afirmado el 'mulá' Dadullah, uno de los responsables talibán, en una entrevista telefónica concedida a la agencia de noticias Reuters.

"Los preparativos de guerra se están haciendo en cuevas y montañas. Nuestros 6.000 combatientes están preparados para atacar a las tropas extranjeras después del cambio de tiempo, cuando el clima sea más templado".

Según Dadullah, el armamento del que ahora disponen, del que no ha dicho la procedencia, permite derribar helicóptero de la OTAN y EEUU en zonas montañosas.

Los rebeldes afirman, además, que recientemente derribaron un helicóptero Chinook de EEUU. Sin embargo, el Pentágono explicó que el incidente, en el que murieron ocho militares, se debió a un fallo en el motor.

Muerte de una soldado española

La militar española fallecida, Idoia Rodríguez, y sus otros dos compañeros viajaban en una ambulancia blindada (BMR) en un convoy integrado por otros cuatro vehículos sanitarios, cuando una mina con 6,5 kilos de explosivo, según el informe preliminar realizado por el Estado Mayor de la Defensa, explosionó a su paso.

España mantiene en Afganistán un contingente militar de más de 690 efectivos, concentrados en su mayoría en la base de Herat y en el Equipo de Reconstrucción Provincial de Badghis, con sede en Qala-i-Now.

Con Idoia Rodríguez son ya 19 las bajas de las Fuerzas Armadas españolas en territorio afgano. En agosto de 2005, 17 militares españoles fallecieron al estrellarse en el oeste del país el helicóptero 'Cougar' en el que viajaban. Posteriormente, el 8 de julio de 2006, una explosión acabó con la vida del paracaidista Jorge Arnaldo Seminario.

La cifra asciende a 81 si se incluyen los 62 muertos en el accidente del 'Yakovlev 42' que los trasladaba, en mayo de 2003, de Kabul a España.

SPIN BOLDAK (AFGANISTÁN)
Actualizado sábado 24/02/2007 09:51 (CET)
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EEUU utilizó bases en Etiopía para capturar a miembros de Al Qaeda, según The New York Times

El Ejército estadounidense utilizó bases en Etiopía para lanzar una ofensiva contra miembros de la red terrorista Al Qaeda en el Cuerno de África, informa hoy el diario 'The New York Times'.



Esta misión, que incluyó ataques aéreos lanzados desde el este de Etiopía contra Somalia, fue llevada a cabo el mes pasado por miembros de una unidad secreta de operaciones especiales, que fueron desplegados en Etiopía y también en Kenia.

El periódico precisa que dos de los principales objetivos de la operación eran los presuntos dirigentes de Al Qaeda, Fazul Abdula Mohamed y Fahid Mohamed Ally Msalam, ambos sospechosos de participar en los ataques lanzados contra las embajadas de EEUU en Kenia y Tanzania en 1998.

Fuentes oficiales citadas por el Times aseguraron que la misión fue todo un éxito porque permitió desmantelar algunas redes terroristas en Somalia y la captura de varios militantes islámicos.

El Pentágono no se ha pronunciado en torno a esta campaña, aunque las fuentes citadas por el diario aseguran que se enmarca en el enfoque 'más agresivo' que EEUU adoptó en los últimos años para capturar a terroristas sirviéndose de tropas de unidades especiales.

eeuu-terrorismo 23-02-2007
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«Tres años después del 11-M, España es hoy más blanco de Al Qaida»

El investigador del Real Instituto Elcano asegura que la amenaza de un nuevo atentado es muy real «y aquí seguimos hablando de ETA, y pasa inadvertida»



Fernando Reinares (Logroño, 1959) es un sereno y cauto experto en terrorismo internacional de corte islamista. Catedrático de Ciencia Política e investigador principal de Terrorismo Internacional en el Real Instituto Elcano, pasa muchas horas de su vida indagando en las oscuridades donde se fragua el terror. Convincente, audaz, investiga venenos ideológicos que acaban en ríos de sangre y fuego.

-¿Cree que la masacre del 11-M ha servido para ponernos las pilas en España en algún sentido?

-Aunque la sociedad española es cada vez más consciente de la amenaza que plantea el terrorismo internacional, este grado de concienciación respecto a este problema está por debajo de la magnitud real del mismo. Es evidente que, en relación con el atentado del 11-M, que es inequívocamente un atentado perpetrado por terroristas yihadistas relacionados con Al-Qaida, todas las especulaciones, todas las hipótesis que se están barajando y que se no corresponden con la realidad de los hechos, están siendo de muy poca ayuda para que en España tengamos una conciencia y un conocimiento adecuados de cuál es, en realidad, la amenaza que plantea para nuestro país el terrorismo internacional.

-Se refiere a la vinculación que pretenden algunos entre el 14-M y la banda terrorista ETA.

-Sí. Creo que desde el 11-M ha habido dos circunstancias que han dificultado una adecuada toma de conciencia en España. En primer lugar está ese sector de la opinión pública que ha asociado los atentados del 11-M exclusivamente con la presencia española en Irak; hoy ya sabemos que esa asociación era una extraordinaria simplificación. Y, por otra parte, está también ese otro sector de la sociedad española y de la clase política que sigue insistiendo en la implicación de ETA, cuando no hay ninguna evidencia sólida al respecto. Ninguna de las dos posiciones ayuda a que progresen satisfactoriamente todos los mecanismos de prevención y lucha contra el terrorismo internacional, porque el adecuado progreso de esos mecanismos requiere de un gran consenso.

-Que, desde luego, no hay.

-Creo que si algo ha sorprendido a todos los analistas y periodistas que han venido a España a cubrir el juicio del 11-M, es el hecho de que, a diferencia de lo que ocurrió en EE. UU. tras el 11-S y de lo que ocurrió en Londres tras los atentados de julio del 2005, aquí en España el terrorismo islamista ha conseguido dividirnos, ha conseguido crear una fractura social y política que no solo afecta a las élites, sino a la sociedad en general y al mundo de las víctimas en particular. Urge salir de esta verdadera anomalía que está afectando a la convivencia democrática, a la vida política y a la imagen de España en el exterior. En estos momentos, somos un mal ejemplo.

-¿Hasta qué punto debemos estar preocupados hoy por la posibilidad de un nuevo zarpazo terrorista tan extremo como el del 11-M?

-Es evidente que después del 11-M ha habido planes para cometer atentados en España de igual o mayor magnitud. Hoy -por ayer- sin ir más lejos, se inicia el juicio en la Audiencia Nacional contra una serie de individuos vinculados al Grupo Islámico Combatiente Marroquí, que querían llevar a cabo un macro atentado en el centro de Madrid, afectando a la Audiencia Nacional y alrededores. Tres años después del 11-M, España es hoy más blanco de Al-Qaida que entonces.

-¿Así de claro?

-Sabemos que lo es porque el número dos de Al Qaida, Ayman al Zawahiri, la mano derecha de Osama bin Laden, en el último año ha hecho ya repetidas alusiones agresivas en relación a España. Estas amenazas, que hubieran permeado la opinión pública en Francia o Reino Unido, están pasando inadvertidas en España. Son mensajes de julio o diciembre del 2006, y de este mismo mes de febrero. Sin embargo, aquí seguimos hablando del 11-M y de ETA y estamos perdiendo el punto de vista sobre la amenaza yihadista.

ANTONIO ARCO/MURCIA
FERNANDO REINARES EXPERTO EN TERRORISMO INTERNACIONAL
Viernes, 23 de febrero de 2007
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Argelia alista a 3.000 tuaregs para combatir a Al Qaeda en el desierto

Los guerrilleros nómadas dispondrán de mejores armas contra los salafistas



En la lucha contra Al Qaeda en los semidesérticos territorios del Sahel, Argelia acaba de marcar un tanto: alistar a 3.000 guerreros tuaregs excelentes conocedores de la zona. Reagrupados en una fantasmagórica guerrilla denominada Alianza Democrática para el Cambio, los hombres azules, como se suele llamar a los tuaregs a causa del color de sus atuendos y turbantes, se habían vuelto a rebelar por enésima vez en mayo.

En aquella ocasión asaltaron dos cuarteles del Ejército maliense cerca de Kidal, en el noreste del país, muy cerca de la frontera argelina.

Estos nómadas añadían con sus ataques un poco más de inestabilidad a una zona donde los salafistas argelinos, ahora rebautizados como Al Qaeda del Magreb, tienen presencia, como demostró el secuestro de una treintena de turistas europeos en 2003, y donde montan incluso campamentos provisionales de entrenamiento.

El endeble Ejército de Malí no podía derrotar a los rebeldes. En consecuencia, el Gobierno maliense pidió a Argelia que desarrollase una labor de buenos oficios para apaciguar a los tuaregs. Su embajador en Bamako, Abdelkrim Ghraieb, tenía experiencia. A principios de los ochenta medió en la crisis de los rehenes estadounidenses secuestrados en su Embajada en Teherán que enfrentó a Estados Unidos e Irán.

Gracias a su labor, el Gobierno de Bamako y los tuaregs hicieron las paces a principios de semana en Argel, según anuncia un comunicado en la página web del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de Argelia. Los hombres azules serán ahora desarmados, se instalarán en un campamento erigido por Argelia cerca de Kidal y después empezará su reinserción profesional.

Concretamente, recibirán armas, más modernas que las que entregarán, y formarán parte de unas fuerzas auxiliares de apoyo al Ejército maliense, según explicó el propio Ghraieb a la prensa argelina. Por si quedaba alguna duda, Ahmed Agbibé, el jefe de los tuaregs que firmó los acuerdos de paz, precisó que su tarea era ahora acabar con "cualquier presencia armada extranjera" en el norte de Malí.

Los tuaregs nunca han tenido aprecio a los salafistas, a los que consideraban unos intrusos en el desierto. Los solían ignorar, pero a veces se han enfrentado con ellos.

I. CEMBRERO - Rabat - 24/02/2007
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Cloro: la nueva pesadilla de Irak

Desde enero ya son tres los atentados con bombas de cloro perpetrados en el país árabe, el último tuvo lugar ayer



El Gobierno iraquí teme que los ataques con “bombas de cloro” sean una nueva táctica de los grupos insurgentes, ha afirmado hoy una fuente oficial. Y si es cierto, como se suele decir en campo jurídico, que tres indicios hacen una prueba, los miedos del Ejecutivo serían fundados, ya que son tres los atentados que se han llevado a cabo utilizando cloro en lo que va del año.

Además, el Ejército norteamericano descubrió ayer una ‘fábrica’ de coches bomba en una nave cerca de Faluya, donde encontró tres vehículos bomba en construcción y varios contenedores de cloro.

Los dos asaltos más recientes han ocurrido en las últimas 48 horas, y han causado al menos 12 muertos y más de 200 intoxicados. Ayer, un camión aparcado con bombonas de cloro gaseoso explotó en Bayaa, al norte de Bagdad, y causó la muerte de seis personas y la intoxicación de varias decenas. El martes, otro incidente similar en Tayi, 20 kilómetros al norte de la capital, mató a seis personas, y afectó 140 que tuvieron que ser hospitalizadas, entre ellas numerosos niños.

Un tercer ataque con cloro fue perpetrado al final del enero pasado cuando un suicida condujo un camión volquete cargado con un contenedor de cloro y explosivo hasta un cuartel de Ramadi, y se hizo estallar. En el asalto murieron 16 personas, aunque ninguna otra pareció sufrir daños causados por el cloro, han afirmado fuentes del Ejército de Estados Unidos.

"Esta táctica parece ser un nuevo factor utilizado por los terroristas por vez primera", ha afirmado el general Qasim Musaui, portavoz del plan de seguridad Aplicamos la Ley. El portavoz del Ejercito de Estados Unidos en Irak ha interpretado los hechos: “Es un intento muy primitivo de subir el terror y de infundir el miedo entre los iraquíes”, ha afirmado.

El cloro es una sustancia que puede matar si se inhala en grande cantidades y que provoca quemaduras en la piel, en los ojos, así como nausea y vómito. Durante la primera guerra mundial se empleó como agente asfixiante, aunque hoy en día se utiliza más que nada para purificar el agua. Se cree que los terroristas lo estén utilizando porque se encuentra fácilmente en un país como Iraq que tiene grandes problemas de agua potable.

El cloro, una vez enfriado y puesto bajo presión, se encuentra en estado líquido. Sin embargo, cuando se libera en la atmósfera se trasforma rápidamente en un gas tóxico de coloro verde-amarillo.

Fábrica de coches bomba de cloro

El General norteamericano William Caldwell ha afirmado que durante las pasadas 24 horas las tropas estadounidenses han hecho una incursión en una nave de la ciudad de Karma, a unos 12 kilómetros al norte de Faluya, donde se estaban construyendo coches-bomba.

Las tropas han encontrado tres coches bomba en construcción, cerca de 65 contenedores de propano y de cloro, como “todo tipo de agentes químicos, que se utilizan normalmente”, ha afirmado el general. “Es obvio que iban a intentar hacer el mismo tipo de bombas [químicas]”, ha asegurado. Caldwell ha dicho también que la incursión de los militares se llevó a cabo gracias a un soplo de un civil iraquí.

Tanto las tropas estadounidenses como las iraquíes estaban hoy en estado de máxima alerta por ser el primer aniversario del ataque contra el mausoleo chií de Samarra, que desató una oleada de violencia entre los chiíes y los suníes.

ELPAIS.com / AGENCIAS - Madrid / Bagdad - 22/02/2007
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Iraq Insurgents Employ Chlorine in Bomb Attacks

BAGHDAD, Feb. 21 — A truck bomb that combined explosives with chlorine gas blew up in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, and officials said it might represent a new and deadly tactic by insurgents against Iraqi civilians.



It was at least the third truck bomb in a month to employ chlorine, a greenish gas also used in World War I, which burns the skin and can be fatal after only a few concentrated breaths. The bomb killed at least two people and wounded 32 others, many of them sent to hospitals coughing and wheezing, police and medical officials said.

Iraqi and American officials said the use of chlorine seemed aimed at bringing a new level of fear and havoc to Iraq as a new security plan for Baghdad takes shape.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, an American military spokesman, said the attacks highlighted the fluidity of insurgent tactics in Iraq, dominated by militant groups that often notice and repeat attacks that attract the most attention and cause the most suffering.

Insurgents have shifted tactics to focus on helicopters, and on Wednesday one group forced down an American Black Hawk helicopter, the eighth such incident since Jan. 20. Roadside bombs have been adapted to punch through heavily armored Humvees. Attacks on Americans also now include coordinated assaults from multiple locations, with a mix of weapons and in at least one case, counterfeit American uniforms and vehicles.

“The enemy is adaptive,” Colonel Garver said. “The enemy wants to win.”

The Black Hawk attacked on Wednesday was forced into a “hard landing” after taking fire from heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, the United States military said. There were no injuries. A Sunni insurgent group, the Mujahedeen Army, claimed responsibility for the attack in an Internet posting, according to the SITE Institute, which tracks postings by insurgent groups.

The bombing involving chlorine gas on Wednesday followed an explosion on Tuesday north of Baghdad of a tanker filled with chlorine that had been rigged to explode, killing nine people and wounding 148, including 42 women and 52 children. At least one other attack with chlorine took place on Jan. 28, according to the American military’s statements. Sixteen people were killed in that attack, in the Sunni-dominated Anbar Province, when a dump truck with explosives and a chlorine tank blew up in Ramadi.

The attacks seem to have been poorly executed, burning the chemical agent rather than dispersing it, but more sophisticated weapons involving chlorine could injure hundreds and cause mass panic.

Though it is widely used in water purification and sewage treatment, chlorine is dangerous because it reacts with water in moist tissue, such as eyes and the respiratory tract, to create acid, which essentially burns tissue. A few breaths of air containing chlorine at a thousand parts per million can be lethal.

Nine people were killed and 250 injured in 2005 after a train crash in South Carolina in which 60 tons of liquefied chlorine was released — about six times more than what is contained in a home heating fuel truck like the one used in the attack on Tuesday.

Exposures at far lower concentrations, down to two parts per million, cause coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, burning in the throat, nose and eyes, nausea and swelling of the lungs.

A few hours after the attack, American Humvees and a military vehicle with a nozzle that appeared to be testing the air encircled the scene. Soldiers were not wearing masks, but officials at Yarmouk hospital said they had determined through interviews and tests that chlorine was used in the attack.

Brig. Qasim Atta, an Iraqi government spokesman for the new Baghdad security plan, described chlorine attacks as a “filthy way” to harm vulnerable Iraqis.

Colonel Garver said that the chemical attacks could soon appear again. “It’s no surprise that anti-Iraqi forces or terrorists or whoever is doing this are trying to replicate this kind of attack,” he said. “They perceive that it’s working.”

The attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday also indicated that the Baghdad security plan had pushed the violence beyond the city’s central neighborhoods, the focus of the new plan.

Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, a United States military spokesman in Baghdad, said that the “belt around Baghdad” had experienced an increase in attacks as Iraqi and American forces concentrated on neighborhoods within. At a briefing in the Green Zone, he said that top commanders were considering assigning at least one brigade to the ring around the city, and perhaps another to Diyala Province, which has been the site of vicious battles between Sunni insurgents and American and Iraqi troops.

The witnesses to the helicopter crash, also in Diyala, said that three helicopters, including a double-rotor Chinook, were flying at tree level when gunmen began firing antiaircraft machine guns from an area near an oil pipeline. A resident who would give his name only as Ali said the back of one helicopter burst into flames, leading the aircraft to turn sideways and plunge to the ground. Two other witnesses said they saw fire coming from the helicopter as it crashed around 1 p.m.

Violence broke out on Wednesday in the southern Shiite holy city of Najaf, when a suicide car bomber detonated as Iraqi security forces checked the car for weapons at a checkpoint into the center of city. The explosion occurred about a half a mile from the Imam Ali mosque, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest shrines, and killed at least 11 people, the police said. Another 34 were wounded.

The American military also said a soldier had been killed by gunfire in a northern neighborhood of Baghdad and a marine had died from combat in Anbar Province, where American troops were battling Sunni insurgents. Both died Tuesday.

Meanwhile, despite the increased military effort, 20 bodies were found Wednesday in the capital, an Interior Ministry official said. In addition to the chlorine attack, four bombs ripped through areas of the city, killing at least six people, while mortar shells rained down on a Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad, leaving three people dead.

The deadliest attack came about 5:30 p.m., when an abandoned car exploded in Sadr City, the largest Shiite area of the capital, killing at least four people, witnesses said.

Fatma al-Saiedi, 35, who was wounded in the explosion, said the attacks were a result of the new plan, which has replaced the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia, with what she and some other residents say are incompetent Iraqi policemen and soldiers.

“We trusted the Mahdi Army,” she said. “The Americans have arrested so many of them, and now this happens — every day, another car bomb. We expect there to be more of them.”


Reporting was contributed by Khalid al-Ansary, Hosham Hussein and Qais Mizher from Baghdad; an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from Najaf; and Craig Hunter from New York.
By DAMIEN CAVE and AHMAD FADAM
Published: February 22, 2007
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
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Gunmen, children, brutality and bombs - Iraq's dirty war

A US patrol in Baquba faced with human shields. The dilemma: to shoot or not



At first they are ghost figures in the weapons' system monitor, glowing with body warmth and two-dimensional. From inside the American Bradley fighting vehicle approaching Burhiz, an insurgent neighbourhood of Baquba, you quickly acclimatise to the reality of this representation of human life.

Boys on bikes cycle backwards and forwards on a footbridge over a small canal lined with houses and groves of date palms. Women in headscarves look anxiously in groups from windows. Men walk with shopping bags. A gunman, clutching an AK-47, bobs his head around the corner of an alleyway close to a school.

Once. Twice. On the third occasion a child, a boy seven or eight years old, is thrust out in front of him. The gunman holds him firmly by the arm and steps out for instant into full view of the Bradley's gunner to get a proper look, then yanks the boy back and disappears.

"That is really dirty," says Specialist Chris Jankow, in the back of the Bradley, with a mixture of contempt, anger and frustration. "They know exactly what our rules of engagement are. They know we can't fire back."

A few minutes and a few hundred metres later the performance is repeated. A woman and three small children emerge uncertainly from behind a building, little more than a shack. They stare at the approaching armour. After a few seconds they retreat from view; then the process is repeated. The third time they emerge, a fighter is crouching behind them with a rocket-propelled grenade aimed at Jankow's Bradley. The group disappears.

There is a long pause, a moment of excruciating moral conflict for the soldiers and for the gunner in particular.

Not to shoot would be to imperil their own lives or those of their colleagues, both American and Iraqi. To shoot would be to risk killing civilians who have been shoved in front of their guns to shield insurgent fighters.

Suddenly, the decision is made, announced by the Bradley opening fire with four rounds from its 25mm gun, blasting a large hole in the corner of the building. Three bodies fall into view.

For a sickening few seconds it seems inconceivable that the woman and her children are not among the dead. A silence descends on the vehicle. But the bodies are those of men.

"This whole human shield thing is all fucked up," says Specialist Orlando Garcia, sitting in the Bradley's back. "You know, if I heard a Bradley. I would be under my house. I wouldn't be out here."

This is the horrible reality of a brutal and unconventional war in Iraq's north - where jihadi fighters use human shields and force children to run weapons for them.

The Iraqi army leading the fight appears to have been infiltrated by those it is fighting. In this "clearing" operation led by two battalions of the Iraqi army supported by a few squads of US troops, the fighters in Buhriz appear to have had ample warning.

The main route into the area - previously checked by unmanned drones - is now dotted with roadside bombs, one every 50 metres. A second route is only marginally safer, forcing the vehicles down to a crawling pace as they go in.

Minutes stretch to hours as the Iraqi soldiers, some 200 of them, search houses for weapons. There are small bursts of fire. An Iraqi Humvee is hit with an RPG, to little effect. Then, as the afternoon wears on, another Humvee in the column hits an improvised explosive device (IED) hidden by the road. The heavy vehicle is tossed on to its side, engulfed in an orange flame that reaches above the houses.

There is little chance that any of the four Iraqis inside can have survived, but one is pulled out of the burning vehicle and dragged across the road. He writhes for a while, and then is still.

The insurgents move among the residents, seen by the helicopters and drones above that report their movements to the troops on the ground. "Moving everywhere," the radio says. They appear on roofs as snipers, or as triggermen for the IEDs. They fire their heavy weapons across the little canal from among the date palm groves they know the armoured vehicles cannot cross, flickering figures manoeuvring expertly among the trees in groups.

It has been a "Darwinian process", an officer says afterwards. The stupid insurgents, and the ones who were too brave, are dead after three years of resistance. Those who are left are battle hardened and have adapted their tactics to fight most effectively against the US military.

As dusk falls with the column halted at the canal by yet another IED, and under fire from the date groves, an air strike is finally called in. The Gatling gun of an A-10 Warthog turns the tall trees into matchwood. With the darkness the column finally pulls out. Another day in a war that seems to have no end.

Peter Beaumont in Buquba
Thursday February 22, 2007
The Guardian
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London UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2018528,00.html

Orden de búsqueda y captura de dos supuestos terroristas Al Qaeda

Los servicios de seguridad marroquíes han emitido una orden de búsqueda y captura contra dos supuestos terroristas integrantes de una red vinculada a Al Qaeda y que se han infiltrado en el país desde la franja del Sahel, informaron hoy fuentes judiciales.



Se trata de Abdelaziz Chaguani y de Abdelahdi Chiri, originarios de la ciudad norteña marroquí de Tánger y supuestos miembros de la Organización Al Qaeda del Magreb Islámico (OQMI), añadieron las fuentes.

Las medidas de seguridad han sido reforzadas tanto en las fronteras como en el interior del país para localizar a los dos presuntos terroristas, calificados de 'peligrosos' por las fuentes.

Esta operación ha sido lanzada con la colaboración de los servicios de seguridad de otros países, sobre todo con los españoles, según las fuentes.

El ministro de Comunicación y Portavoz del Gobierno marroquí, Nabil Benabdalá, declaró el pasado 15 de febrero que su país ha multiplicado 'el nivel de movilización y de vigilancia' debido a la amenaza terrorista que pesa sobre el Magreb.

La 'Organización Al Qaeda del Magreb Islámico' fue creada por el argelino Grupo Salafista para La Predicación y el Combate (GSPC) con el fin de extender sus actividades a toda la región.

Esta organización argelina ha rendido pleitesía a los líderes de Al Qaeda, según un comunicado divulgado en la red a través de internet.

marruecos-terrorismo 21-02-2007
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Beyond Baghdad, Grass-Roots Security

U.S. Unit Scours a Village in Effort to Identify Threats Before They Reach the Capital



IBRAHIM BIN ALI, Iraq -- The mud sucked at the soldiers' boots as they crept across the wet pasture after dawn. To their right, Humvees and tanks tracked the soldiers' progress from a narrow dirt road. To their left and in front stood cinder-block huts, shaded by date palm trees, where they believed the enemy was hiding.

The only sound as they approached the insurgent stronghold was the lowing of piebald cows and the faint gobble of turkeys.

"I'll tell you right now there's a lot of bad guys watching," Sgt. Anthony Palkki said.

The security plan for Baghdad is a fight not only in the teeming streets of the capital but also in places like this, a Sunni-dominated village on the northern outskirts, where U.S. commanders say the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq is terrorizing Shiite residents, planning attacks on Americans and funneling explosives into Baghdad along a network of country roads. Hundreds of U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division pushed into Ibrahim bin Ali village Saturday morning for a two-day operation designed to take back the hamlet from insurgents and catalogue every fighting-age male in the village.

"This is a large part of the Baghdad security plan because this helps disrupt [al-Qaeda in Iraq] movement and foreign fighter movement into Baghdad," said Maj. Chad Shields, a company commander. "It's about getting to the level of detail where you understand the town that you're operating in, and you know the people you're operating among."

Gaining this understanding is one of the most difficult challenges facing U.S. soldiers operating here. Over two days, more than 350 U.S. troops involved in the operation searched 95 homes, discovered about a dozen roadside bombs -- including two that exploded under their tanks, causing no injuries -- and took scattered small-arms fire. But they failed to capture a single insurgent.

Although the security plan has been cast as an Iraqi-led mission, no Iraqi police operate around Ibrahim bin Ali. And Lt. Col. Kurt Pinkerton, the battalion commander, said he could not persuade Iraqi army commandos to assist.

"They didn't return my calls," he said.

So the U.S. troops proceeded alone along muddy canals, over irrigation ditches, amid flocks of sheep. The supporting tanks and Humvees sealed off roads around the village. Soldiers swabbed some residents for traces of explosives, took digital photographs of every male adult and logged Global Positioning System readings to mark the location of each building. Commanders said the census was necessary to learn who might be out of place when they return. But even before the operation, officers warned that insurgents might flee such a large American onslaught, and finding them would be difficult.

"They know we're looking for bad guys, and they know we don't . . . know what the bad guys look like, so we've got to check everybody," Staff Sgt. Patrick O'Neil told other platoon leaders at the pre-mission briefing.

Once in the village, a platoon led by 1st Lt. Chris Larsen, 24, a West Point graduate, encountered several frustrations. Some residents blithely pronounced the area safe, even though guerrillas regularly attack U.S. patrols with roadside bombs, gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades. Others complained about the lack of jobs, electricity and fuel, and said they cower in their homes at the sound of explosions and don't know who is responsible.

"I am not afraid of your visit or of you, the Americans, I'm mostly happy when you come over. I'm afraid of the interaction between you and the terrorists and then firing starts," said one villager, Onaid Merza Alwan. "Or when the terrorists see you in my house and they start to wonder why you are here, maybe I'm giving you information. It's very scary."

"So where are these terrorists that are watching right now?" Larsen asked him.

"If the Americans cannot see them, can I see them?"

"Yeah, he'll know who they are," Larsen told his interpreter. "I don't know who they are. They look exactly the same. The bad guys and the good guys look exactly the same."

Some residents took a more defiant stand when questioned by the platoon.

"Any individual on Earth values his country and refuses occupation. I am hoping this is not an occupation," Hassan Ali Hamid Hassan, 27, a recent graduate in Arabic literature from Baghdad University, told Larsen. "Jihad is a duty. Jihad was within our power since the beginning to protect our women, our property, our way of living. Jihad is cited in the Koran."

"I am not liking this guy right now," Larsen said. Hassan eventually told the soldiers he did not support violence.

On Dec. 30, the battalion uncovered large weapons caches in the area, including a warehouse that contained 3,000 pounds of explosives, car bombs, explosive belts and propane-tank weapons. But Larsen's platoon discovered no illicit weapons on this weekend hunt, or at least no new weapons. One villager kept a forearm-size shell from the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s that he had converted into a flower vase. Behind another house, the soldiers examined 11 Russian ammunition boxes that held spare car parts.

Gunfire broke out once, when a U.S. soldier shot a snarling dog.

"Use rocks from now on, please. Rocks!" Larsen shouted at the soldier. "We're trying not to scare these . . . people. Tell them that we're sorry."

When the sun set, and the bats began to circle, the platoon moved into an Iraqi home, posted rooftop guards and spent the night on blankets on the concrete floor. Maintaining around-the-clock presence in trouble spots is key to the battalion's plan to disrupt the insurgents. For weeks the soldiers have lived in a series of abandoned houses in the village to send the message that their presence is not temporary. The Baghdad security plan encourages commanders to make such deployments, Pinkerton said.

The plan has "given them the authority, if you would, to go out there and occupy and sit full time," he said.

Without such heightened presence, he said, even armed residents are afraid to confront the insurgents. "I know they have AK-47 weapons in their house. What they'll always tell you is, 'until you're out here full time we can't' " respond, Pinkerton said.

To build a sense of trust, the soldiers in the operation tried to help the villagers. The platoon's medic, Pfc. Bruce Cardenas, 18, sterilized and bandaged one man's festering ankle wound. The soldiers spent part of the second day passing out truckloads of supplies -- rice, flour, blankets, kerosene heaters, stew, diapers -- to the residents. The handouts caused a mob scene, soldiers said.

After the Humvees rolled out Sunday afternoon, the commanders called the operation a success because it laid the groundwork for further counterinsurgency operations, familiarized them with the villagers and likely caused insurgents to flee, at least temporarily. Some of the soldiers on the ground were less sure.

"I think there will always be people who don't want us to be here," said Spec. Logan Gathman, 26, of Sacramento. "And whenever we show up the bad guys leave, anyway."

"I really thought there'd be more going on," Sgt. Josh York said.

By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, February 21, 2007; Page A09
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Terrorist Networks Lure Young Moroccans to War in Far-Off Iraq

Conflict Is Recruiting Tool for Al-Qaeda Affiliates



TETOUAN, Morocco -- In the Arab world, this hilly North African city is about as far as you can get from Iraq. But for many young men here, the call to join what they view as a holy war resonates loudly across the 3,000-mile divide.

About two dozen men from Tetouan and nearby towns in the Rif Mountains have traveled to Iraq in the past 18 months to volunteer as fighters or suicide bombers, according to local residents and officials. Moroccan authorities said the men were recruited by international terrorist networks affiliated with al-Qaeda that have deepened their roots in North Africa since the invasion of Iraq four years ago.

To stanch the flow, U.S. intelligence and military officials have tried to trace the fighters' steps. On the basis of DNA evidence recovered from the scenes of suicide attacks, as well as other clues, officials have confirmed that at least two bombers came from Tetouan, a city of more than 320,000 across the Strait of Gibraltar from southern Spain.

One of them, Abdelmonaim el-Amrani, a 22-year-old laborer, abandoned his wife and infant child in Tetouan to go to Iraq. On March 6, 2006, just before sunset, he drove a red Volkswagen Passat stuffed with explosives into a funeral tent in a village near Baqubah, Iraq, according to witnesses. Six people were reported killed and 27 injured. It was months before Amrani's family in Tetouan learned of his fate from Moroccan police.

Foreign fighters in Iraq account for only a small percentage of the combatants attacking U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies. U.S. military officials and independent analysts peg the number at no more than a few thousand. But as the war drags on, it continues to serve as a powerful rallying tool for radical Islamic networks around the world that have developed recruiting pipelines as far afield as Europe and Southeast Asia.

Moroccan authorities said they have identified more than 50 volunteers who have gone to Iraq since 2003, and many more are believed to have made the journey undetected. Security officials here said the problem is worse in other Arab countries.

Under U.S. pressure to act, Moroccan officials have tried to disrupt the recruiting networks in recent months, arresting more than 50 people since November.

"We have chosen to be extremely vigilant," Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said in an interview in Rabat, the capital. "These cells all have international connections. They can function because they certainly all have support, especially in regard to training and in regard to logistics."

But Morocco and its neighbors are finding it increasingly difficult to suppress the militants. Several networks that used to operate independently in North Africa have put aside their differences, united in part by the ongoing violence in Iraq.

Last month, for example, a group in Algeria that has waged a decade-long insurgency against the government there announced that it had changed its name to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb -- a reference to African lands north of the Sahara -- and joined forces with affiliates in Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Mauritania.

The organization asserted responsibility for a coordinated operation on Feb. 13 in which seven targets, mostly police stations, were bombed in a district east of Algiers. Six people were reported killed and 13 injured. In a telephone call to the Arab satellite television network al-Jazeera, an unidentified spokesman said the group was looking to expand its targets to focus on American interests. "Wherever we can find a U.S. presence, we will, God willing, pursue it and its agents," he said.

In December, the same group attacked a bus loaded with foreign contractors in a military-controlled zone of Algiers, killing the Algerian driver. Nine people were wounded, including four Britons and an American.

In Tunisia, a cell belonging to the same network engaged in a gun battle Jan. 3 with police outside Tunis, the capital, resulting in 12 deaths. According to European news media, the cell had drawn up plans to attack the U.S., Italian and British embassies.

Despite the surge in local strikes, North African intelligence officials and analysts said that al-Qaeda affiliates in the region remain focused on Iraq and rely on the faraway conflict as a recruiting tool.

"The big state for al-Qaeda is Iraq," said Mohamed Darif, a political science professor and terrorism expert at Hassan II-Mohammedia University in Morocco. "Al-Qaeda has the same strategy as the United States: It wants to win in Iraq so it can transform the whole region. They are fixated on Iraq."

In Tetouan, the local economy and culture lean more toward Europe than the Middle East. The narrow streets and whitewashed buildings appear to have changed little since the first half of the 20th century, when the city was the colonial capital of Spanish Morocco. Most storefronts feature signs in both Spanish and Arabic. Young men wear the jerseys of their favorite European soccer teams, particularly those from Barcelona and Madrid.

Although it is still not clear why so many men from Tetouan decided to abandon their lives and go to Iraq, there are some clues. Relatives and friends said several of the men were well-educated -- many took classes at local community colleges -- but struggled to make ends meet. They noted that the men's religious beliefs appeared to have deepened and that they had begun wearing long beards and loose-fitting Afghan-style clothes.

Moncef ben Masaoud, 21, died in a suicide attack in Baqubah last fall, according to neighbors and relatives. Skilled in computers and math, he had attended college classes in nearby Tangier. On July 27, 2006, he left home as usual for school, but never returned.

"He told me he'd be coming back the same day," his father, Haj Ahmed Masaoud, a tire dealer in a Tetouan market, told the Moroccan newsmagazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire. "In mid-August, he called me and told me he was doing fine. He said he was in Syria. That was the last contact we had with him."

Masaoud was a close friend of Amrani, the young father who also carried out a suicide bombing near Baqubah, as well as a third Tetouan man, Yones Achebbak, 23, who left for Iraq last fall. Achebbak's fate is unknown.

All three men attended the same mosque in Tetouan, a white-arched building perched on a slope in the slum district of Mezouak. The mosque's imam, Fatal Abdelillah, was arrested in November as part of the investigation into the Iraqi recruiting ring.

It was not the first time the mosque and the Mezouak slum had drawn the attention of counterterrorism investigators. Five men from the area are suspects in the March 11, 2004, train bombings in Madrid, which killed 191 people and injured more than 1,800.

Al-Qaeda recruiters have focused on Tetouan because it has several extremist mosques but also because of its proximity to Europe, Moroccan officials and analysts said. Spanish counterterrorism authorities have warned that recruiting networks are also active in the nearby Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla, enclaves on the northern Moroccan coast that are a holdover from the days when the region was a Spanish colony.

"Al-Qaeda was working very hard to create coordination cells in Tetouan, because it's a close point of contact to Europe," said Darif, the Moroccan terrorism analyst. He said the Moroccan cells smuggle recruits and other operatives across the Mediterranean Sea to Spain, where they pick up false passports and move on to Turkey or Syria before slipping into Iraq.

The recruiters screen rigorously, according to counterterrorism officials. Designated "watchers" hang around radical mosques and other places to look for young men angry about the conflicts in places such as Iraq and the Palestinian territories. For months, the watchers try to whip up the potential volunteers' emotions further and convince them that they have a religious duty to intervene.

"The recruitment does not exclusively take place in the poorest parts of society, nor in the category of illiterates," said Benmoussa, the interior minister. Instead, he said, recruiters "target a category of people that is extremely sensitive to what they consider international injustice."

Candidates are subjected to psychological assessments from a distance to determine if they are really willing to die for the cause. Background checks are run to ensure that they are not informers, officials said. Those who make the final cut are assigned to "handlers," who arrange the trip to Iraq.

The volunteers are sometimes trained to use explosives and weapons before they leave, but it is rare that they are taught more than the basics, said Nick Pratt, a retired Marine colonel and terrorism expert at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

The recruits are valued more for their zeal than their skill because of their primary mission: suicide attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces, as well as Shiite foes in the nation's sectarian conflict. Pratt said research has shown that suicide bombings are embraced by networks affiliated with al-Qaeda because they are more lethal and generate more publicity. He said a suicide attack, on average, causes six times as many deaths and 12 times as many injuries as a conventional attack, such as a roadside bomb explosion.

"The recruiters for al-Qaeda are some of the most important players right now in that organization," Pratt said. "They have a profile, and they know what they're looking for in terms of recruits." Counterterrorism officials, he added, are more concerned with stopping the recruiters than the volunteers. "They're not so much concerned with the guys who become cannon fodder," he said.

Moroccan authorities have made several rounds of arrests since November, many of them in Tetouan. Most recently, on Jan. 4, the government said it had arrested 26 people and "smashed a terrorist structure with international connections specializing in the recruitment and transport of volunteers to Iraq."

Some Moroccan lawmakers and relatives of those arrested said U.S. officials have pressured Morocco to act since they discovered the Tetouan connection to Iraq. The U.S. Embassy in Rabat declined to comment.

Mustapha Khalfi, a member of Parliament from the opposition Justice and Development Party, said the government was arresting suspects, based on little evidence, to please U.S. officials. "They are pushing us to do some bad things," he said. "This conflicts with U.S. policy to strengthen democracy and to strengthen human rights."

Khalfi said the number of Moroccans joining the fight in Iraq had been exaggerated. At the same time, he added, as long as the U.S. military remains in Iraq, many Moroccans will feel duty-bound to help the resistance.

"There's a long tradition in the Muslim world of solidarity against occupation," he said. "It's rooted in our society. To explain it and understand it is easy."


Special correspondent Hasan Shammari in Baqubah, Iraq, contributed to this report.
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 20, 2007; Page A01
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North Africa Feared as Staging Ground for Terror

TUNIS — The plan, hatched for months in the arid mountains of North Africa, was to attack the American and British Embassies here. It ended in a series of gun battles in January that killed a dozen militants and left two Tunisian security officers dead.



But the most disturbing aspect of the violence in this normally placid, tourist-friendly nation is that it came from across the border in Algeria, where an Islamic terrorist organization has vowed to unite radical Islamic groups across North Africa.

Counterterrorism officials on three continents say the trouble in Tunisia is the latest evidence that a brutal Algerian group with a long history of violence is acting on its promise: to organize extremists across North Africa and join the remnants of Al Qaeda into a new international force for jihad.

[Last week, the group claimed responsibility for seven nearly simultaneous bombings that destroyed police stations in towns east of Algiers, the Algerian capital, killing six people.]

This article was prepared from interviews with American government and military officials, French counterterrorism officials, Italian counterterrorism prosecutors, Algerian terrorism experts, Tunisian government officials and a Tunisian attorney working with Islamists charged with terrorist activities.

They say North Africa, with its vast, thinly governed stretches of mountain and desert, could become an Afghanistan-like terrorist hinterland within easy striking distance of Europe. That is all the more alarming because of the deep roots that North African communities have in Europe and the ease of travel between the regions. For the United States, the threat is also real because of visa-free travel to American cities for most European passport holders.

The violent Algerian group the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, known by its French initials G.S.P.C., has for several years been under American watch.

“The G.S.P.C. has become a regional terrorist organization, recruiting and operating in all of your countries — and beyond,” Henry A. Crumpton, then the United States ambassador at large for counterterrorism, said at a counterterrorism conference in Algiers last year. “It is forging links with terrorist groups in Morocco, Nigeria, Mauritania, Tunisia and elsewhere.”

Officials say the group is funneling North African fighters to Iraq, but is also turning militants back toward their home countries.

The ambitions of the group are particularly troubling to counterterrorism officials on the watch for the re-emergence of networks that were largely interrupted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. While most estimates put the current membership of the group in the hundreds, it has survived more than a decade of Algerian government attempts to eradicate it. It is now the best-organized and -financed terrorist group in the region.

Last year, on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Al Qaeda chose the G.S.P.C. as its representative in North Africa. In January, the group reciprocated by switching its name to Al Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb, claiming that the Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, had ordered the change.

“Al Qaeda’s aim is for the G.S.P.C. to become a regional force, not solely an Algerian one,” said the French counterterrorism magistrate, Jean-Louis Bruguière, in Paris. He calls the Algerian group the biggest terrorist threat facing France today.

“We know from cases that we’re working on that the G.S.P.C.’s mission is now to recruit people in Morocco and Tunisia, train them and send them back to their countries of origin or Europe to mount attacks,” he said.

The G.S.P.C. was created in 1998 as an offshoot of the Armed Islamic Group, which along with other Islamist guerrilla forces fought a brutal decade-long civil war after the Algerian military canceled elections in early 1992 because an Islamist party was poised to win.

In 2003, a G.S.P.C. leader in southern Algeria kidnapped 32 European tourists, some of whom were released for a ransom of 5 million euros (about $6.5 million at current exchange rates), paid by Germany.

Officials say the leader, Amari Saifi, bought weapons and recruited fighters before the United States military helped corner and catch him in 2004. He is now serving a life sentence in Algeria.

Change of Leadership

Since then, an even more radical leader, Abdelmalek Droukdel, has taken over the group. The Algerian military says he cut his teeth in the 1990s as a member of the Armed Islamic Group’s feared Ahoual or “horror” company, blamed for some of the most gruesome massacres of Algeria’s civil war.

He announced his arrival with a truck bomb at the country’s most important electrical production facility in June 2004, and focused on associating the group with Al Qaeda.

Links to the G.S.P.C. soon began appearing in terrorism cases elsewhere in North Africa and in Europe.

In 2005, Moroccan authorities arrested a man named Anour Majrar, and told Italy and France that he and two other militants had visited G.S.P.C. leaders in Algeria earlier that year.

His interrogation led to arrests in Algeria, Italy and France, where Mr. Majrar’s associates were quickly linked to an attempted robbery of 5 million euros at an armored car depot in Beauvais, north of Paris. A hole had been blown in a wall at the depot with military-grade C4 plastic explosives, but it was not big enough for the men to get through.

A later investigation turned up Kalashnikov assault rifles, French Famas military assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, TNT and two more pounds of C4. French counterterrorism officials say the group was planning attacks on the Paris Metro, the city’s Orly Airport, and the headquarters of the Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire, France’s domestic intelligence agency.

Italian prosecutors say a related cell in Milan was planning attacks on the city’s police headquarters and on the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, whose 15th-century fresco depicts the Prophet Muhammad in hell.

The G.S.P.C. or its members in Algeria appear to have become a touchstone for groups suspected of being terror cells across the region, in much the way that Qaeda representatives in London were a decade ago.

Wiretaps, interrogation of terrorism suspects and recovered documents suggest that the network has associates in France, Italy, Turkey and even Greece, which is favored as an entry point to Europe because of its relatively lax immigration controls, counterterrorism officials say.

There had been hints that the North African groups were planning more formal cooperation as far back as 2005, when Moroccan intelligence authorities found messages sent by Islamic militants to Osama bin Laden, according to European counterintelligence officials.

Evidence of an Alliance

Indications that a cross-border alliance was under way came in June 2005, when the G.S.P.C. attacked a military outpost in Mauritania, killing 15 soldiers. The attackers fled into Mali, according to the United States military.

Moroccan police officers raiding suspected Islamic militant cells last summer also found documents discussing a union between the G.S.P.C. and the Islamic Combatant Group in Morocco, the Islamic Fighting Group in Libya and several smaller Tunisian groups, intelligence officials say.

In September, Al Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri, released a videotape in which he said that his global terrorist network had joined forces with the G.S.P.C.

The video was followed by an unsettling increase in terrorist attacks across the region, including one against Halliburton employees in Algeria in December that left one Algerian dead and nine people wounded.

But the strongest evidence yet of the G.S.P.C.’s North African cross-border cooperation came in January when Tunisia announced that it had killed 12 Islamic extremists and captured 15 of them. Officials said that six of the extremists had crossed into the country from Algeria.

Their 36-year-old leader, Lassad Sassi, was a former Tunisian policeman who ran a terrorist cell in Milan until May 2001 before fleeing to Algeria, according to an Italian prosecutor, Armando Spataro.

Mr. Sassi, now dead, is still listed as a defendant in a current terrorism trial in Milan, which began before he died. He was charged in absentia with providing military clothing and money to the G.S.P.C. while financing and planning suicide bomb attacks in Italy.

Tunisian officials say that Mr. Sassi and five other men — four Tunisians and one Mauritanian — crossed the rugged border from Algeria into Tunisia months ago.

They set up a base in the mountains of Djebel Terif, where Mr. Sassi trained 20 other Tunisian men in the use of automatic weapons and explosives.

A Trail of Violence

The decision to move against the group began when the police in the Tunis suburb of Hammam Lif detained a young woman in December who led them to a house where a gun battle left two suspected terrorists dead, two officers wounded and two other men in custody, a police officer involved said. His account of the events could not be independently verified.

Another arrest led the police into the hills toward the training camp.

Three of the militants and a Tunisian Army captain were killed during a chase through the mountains. Tunisian security forces mounted a search in which 13 more men were arrested and Mr. Sassi was killed.

The remnants of the group fled and members were later tracked down and killed in another gun battle.

Tunisian officials have sought to play down the G.S.P.C. link, and have said the recently dismantled group’s target was the West.

In fact, according to Samir Ben Amor, a Tunisian attorney who defends many young Tunisian Islamists, more than 600 young Tunisian Islamists have been arrested in the past two years — more than 100 in the past two months — trying to make their way to Iraq to fight the United States.

“It’s the same thing that we saw in Bosnia, Kosovo and above all Afghanistan,” said Mr. Bruguière, the French magistrate. “Al Qaeda’s objective is to create an operational link between the groups in Iraq and the G.S.P.C.”

Tunisia is among the most vulnerable of the North African countries, because its rigid repression of Islam has created a well of resentment among religious youth, and its popularity as a tourist destination for Europeans makes it a target.

Tunisian security forces found Google Earth satellite images of the American and British Embassies as well as the names of diplomats who worked in both buildings. But according to the police officer involved in the case and journalists in Tunisia, the targets also included hotels and nightclubs.

An attack on those sites would have dealt a heavy blow to Tunisia’s tourist industry, one of the country’s most important sources of foreign exchange. An April 2002 bombing of a synagogue on the Tunisian tourist island of Djerba, for which the G.S.P.C. claimed responsibility, helped sink the country’s economic growth that year to its slowest rate in a decade.


By CRAIG S. SMITH
Published: February 20, 2007
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
New York USA
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/world/africa/20tunisia.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th

Iraqi Militants Launch Attack on U.S. Outpost

BAGHDAD, Feb. 19 — In a rare coordinated assault on an American combat outpost north of Baghdad, suicide bombers drove one or more cars laden with explosives into the compound on Monday, while other insurgents opened fire in the ensuing chaos, according to witnesses and the American military. Two American soldiers were killed and at least 17 were wounded.



he brazen attack, which was followed by gun battles and an evacuation of the wounded by American helicopters, was almost surely the work of Sunni militants, most likely Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, according to American and Iraqi officials.

It appeared to be part of a renewed drive by insurgents in recent weeks as more American and Iraqi troops flood the streets of Baghdad and thousands of marines head to western Anbar Province to try to stem the violence. Hundreds of Iraqis have died in a recent wave of car bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere.

Insurgents have been able to shoot down more helicopters through coordinated assaults, captured documents suggest, and American and Iraqi military officials say they are concerned that militants are moving to areas where the American troop presence remains thin.

As the Iraqi government and the American military struggled to build public trust in the security forces, a Sunni woman publicly charged that she had been raped by members of the largely Shiite National Police, causing a furor.

The assault on the American outpost, situated in the heart of a town called Tarmiya, was unusual because militants had largely avoided direct assaults on heavily fortified American positions. A similar attack occurred last summer, when a suicide driver plowed a truck full of explosives into a military outpost near the town of Baghdadi, in Anbar Province, but that did not seem as coordinated as Monday’s assault.

Shortly before dawn, suicide bombers drove at least one and possibly as many as three cars laden with explosives into the outer perimeter of the outpost. Witnesses said there were two explosions then a brief pause before another bomber drove his vehicle into the building, a former police station.

Sometime during the assault a gas storage container exploded, sending black smoke billowing into the sky as militants laid siege to the outpost, firing on the Americans from multiple directions, according to an Iraqi official and local residents. As the gun battle raged, at least four American helicopters swept overhead to evacuate the wounded soldiers. There were no reports of how many militants were killed.

The witnesses were reached by telephone and related their accounts only on the condition of anonymity, saying they feared for their lives. The accounts of the witnesses, some of whom live next door to the outpost, could not be independently verified. In a statement, the American military confirmed only the casualty figures and said at least one car bomb was involved in the attack.

Militants usually attack American bases by firing mortars from a distance, using snipers to wait for targets of opportunity, or planting explosive devices on roads frequented by Americans. Iraqi police and army stations, on the other hand, have come under frequent assault by suicide bombers.

There is evidence that Shiite militia leaders are lying low and heading to strongholds in the south during the security crackdown, but attacks by Sunni militants seem to be intensifying. In addition to the assault in Tarmiya, militants on Monday struck at Iraqi security forces and government officials near Kirkuk, Ramadi and Tikrit, and attacked civilians near Falluja.

A family of 13 was killed on the road leading to Falluja, about 12 miles northwest of Baghdad, because its members were from a tribe known to oppose Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, witnesses said.

The family, including an elderly woman and two small boys, was dragged out of a minibus, lined up and shot. The bodies remained on the highway for hours because people were afraid they would be ambushed if they collected the dead, witnesses said.

The family was part of the Albu Farag tribe, which has made an alliance with the Anbar Salvation Council. The council has been trying to undermine the militants, and its leader, Abdul Satar Abu Risha, was himself the target of an assassination attempt on Monday when a suicide bomber drove into his home in Ramadi. He survived, but five of his guards were killed.

The attack on the Tarmiya outpost came as American troops moved into similar stations throughout Baghdad for the first time since the early months after the 2003 invasion. Monday’s attack underscored the inherent risks in the new strategy.

The Americans entered Tarmiya after the local police force collapsed in December, following a campaign of intimidation by Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, according to the military and residents.

Until the police force collapsed, the Americans had been only an occasional presence in the town of 25,000, sending soldiers to conduct patrols with the Iraqis from a nearby base. Over the past two years, residents said, Sunni militants have been a constant presence. In addition to attacking the security forces, they have pushed nearly all the Shiites out of the once-mixed community.

The outpost, established in the abandoned police headquarters in the center of the town, was fortified by large blast walls. Americans typically keep one company of about 100 soldiers at such outposts.

By nightfall, American forces had sealed off all entrances to the town and imposed a curfew, leaving residents worried that they would be cut off from basic supplies.

In the west of the country, three marines and an Army soldier were killed over the weekend, the United States military said Monday.

Even as Iraqis and Americans stepped up security efforts in Baghdad on Monday, a day after bombs killed 61 people in a downtown market, there were at least three bombings and one mortar attack that killed 11 people, Iraqi officials said.

There was also an increase in the number of bodies found around the city after a brief lull, officials said. At least 20 bodies showing signs of torture were found on the streets of the capital on Monday.

The American military released statements asserting a number of successes in combating both Sunni militants and Shiite militia groups.

An Iraqi unit, aided by American advisers, caught militants in the act of constructing devices known as explosively formed projectiles in a house in Hilla, south of Baghdad, on Saturday, according to the American military. The explosive devices have proved especially lethal to American troops in recent months, and both military commanders and the White House have pointed to Iran as the source of a component essential in making the devices.

The renewed security campaign will rely on winning the trust of the population, and that effort may have been dealt a blow on Monday night, when a woman said on Al Jazeera, the Arabic-language satellite channel, that she had been kidnapped and raped by members of the Iraqi National Police.

The woman, a Sunni, said three members of the National Police stormed into her home in the Amil neighborhood of Baghdad on Sunday while her husband was away, accused her of cooking for militants and took her to a police garrison where the assault occurred.

Although the woman did not say her attackers were Shiites, the National Police is believed to be dominated by Shiites, including elements of the militias that have infiltrated its ranks.

Sunni politicians rushed to condemn the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and the security crackdown, while some Shiite officials questioned the woman’s account.

The woman said she was treated by Americans, but a spokesman for the American military said he had no knowledge of the case. An Iraqi nurse who said she had treated the woman supported her account.

Rape victims rarely come forward in Muslim countries, making the public airing of the account highly unusual.

Aware of the highly charged nature of the woman’s claims, Mr. Maliki’s office quickly released a statement last night calling for a full investigation and “the severest punishment” for anyone involved.


An Iraqi employee of The New York Times contributed reporting.
By MARC SANTORA
Published: February 20, 2007
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
New York USA
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/world/middleeast/20iraq.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th

Alerta en Marruecos ante el avance del grupo Al Qaeda del Magreb

El movimiento islamista reivindica las últimas acciones terroristas en Argelia



El movimiento Al Qaeda del Magreb Islámico, nacido del argelino Grupo Salafista para la Predicación y el Combate, es para analistas magrebíes el sueño de Bin Laden hecho realidad en la zona, aunque apenas hay datos sobre su alcance.
20/02/2007 | Actualizada a las 03:31h | Rabat. Corresponsal
Carla Fibla | "Amenaza terrorista. Aziz Chaguani, alias Yusef,y Abdelhadi Chiari, alias Bachir, están activamente buscados por los servicios de seguridad marroquíes por su relación con grupos terroristas", reza el anuncio oficial que casi toda la prensa publicó ayer en primera página. Son dos de los 40 presuntos terroristas sobre los que Rabat ha emitido una orden de busca y captura.

Marruecos, el Magreb, está en alerta después de que, tras siete explosiones en la Cabilia argelina, el movimiento Al Qaeda del Magreb Islámico reivindicara el atentado. El fin de semana pasado altos cargos del Ministerio de Interior marroquí y de los servicios secretos y de seguridad del país se reunieron para analizar la alerta existente en la región ante posibles atentados.

Chakib Benmusa, ministro de Interior, recibió por su parte en Rabat a los gobernadores del reino, para pedirles mayor vigilancia. El verano pasado se creó un grupo de crisis en este ministerio para delitos peligrosos que ahora trabaja sólo en posibles movimientos terroristas.

Desde los atentados de Casablanca, en mayo del 2003, es habitual que se informe sobre la desarticulación de supuestas células terroristas, los miembros de la última fueron detenidos a mediados de febrero en Fez, Salé (junto a Rabat) y Tetuán. La presión de las fuerzas de seguridad marroquíes, con detenciones de presuntos islamistas, es muy elevada. Amparadas en la ley antiterrorista - réplica de la Patriot Act estadounidense-, las autoridades marroquíes mantienen supuestamente bajo control barrios populares sensibles y vigilan contactos y consultas ordinarias efectuadas en internet.

La supuesta amenaza terrorista se cierne sobre el Magreb, por tratar con gobiernos occidentales, y también sobre la vecina Europa, pero el distanciamiento político entre los países de la región impide que exista una estrategia común.

Fuentes oficiales marroquíes aseguran que existe una fluida coordinación entre los servicios secretos marroquíes, belgas y estadounidenses, porque se ha detectado el regreso desde Iraq de marroquíes con nacionalidad belga que han luchado contra la ocupación de EE. UU. y que podrían preparar atentados.

En cambio, desde el Ministerio de Interior marroquí no existe colaboración ni intercambio de información con Argelia y Túnez. Cada país informa a sus socios occidentales, dejando al margen la frontera, cerrada oficialmente desde hace 14 años, entre Argelia y Marruecos, que se ha convertido en un incontrolado paso de contrabando y de movimientos ilegales de personas.

Desde que en enero el Grupo Salafista para la Predicación y el Combateanunció su conversión en una rama de Al Qaeda en el Magreb Islámico, integrando a todos los grupos terroristas de la zona, ha aumentado la alarma. El supuesto control de mezquitas marroquíes, la deposición de las armas por parte de algunos salafistas en Argelia o la represión de los grupos islamistas en Túnez están siendo burlados por Al Qaeda del Magreb Islámico.

Martes 20 de febrero 2007 | Actualizado a las 05:54h
20/02/2007 | Actualizada a las 03:31h | Rabat. Corresponsal
LA VANGUARDIA, el diario más vendido en Catalunya.
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Al-Qaeda fights online

Internet allows terror network to keep in touch with its supporters despite being weakened militarily.



After being dealt a series of military blows, the Al-Qaeda terror network continues to put up resistance thanks to the Internet, which allows it to keep in touch with supporters, spread its ideology and recruit new members, according to US counterterrorism experts.

"Even though its personnel may be dispersed, Al-Qaeda remains a hierarchical organization: capable of ordering, planning and implementing bold terrorist strikes," warned Bruce Hoffman, a specialist from Georgetown University, in congressional testimony last week.

"It is the Internet that enables jihadist networks to continue to exist despite the military might of the United States," agreed Rita Katz, director of SITE Institute that monitors extremist websites.

"Due to the efforts of security forces around the world, jihadists have an increasingly difficult time communicating and coordinating with one another utilizing traditional communication devices that can be easily traced, such as cellular or satellite phones," Katz pointed out. "However, the Internet provides a flexible, instant communication tool for jihadists."

She said militant Islamic groups use websites, messageboards, e-groups, blogs, instant messaging, and other services to continue to indoctrinate, communicate, recruit and plan new attacks.

Despite their isolation, Al-Qaeda founders Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri "maintain an active dialogue with followers, issuing statements through the Internet to a worldwide audience."

The group that coordinates the online distribution of jihadist communiques, such as video messages from bin Laden, Zawahiri, and other militant leaders, according to Katz, is called Al-Fajr Center.

Jihadist media groups like GIMF and Al-Fajr Center release programs and training manuals to ensure that members of the online jihadist community know "how to communicate with each other securely, using encryption methods," said the expert.

Al-Qaeda's ability to use the Internet to coordinate its activities is worrying experts, who says the potential threat should not be underestimated.

More than five years after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington "the terrorist threat has become more varied, complicated and difficult to understand than perhaps at any time in memory," argued Daniel Benjamin, an expert from the Brookings Institution.

"Despite very real and significant successes in dismantling and disrupting terrorists and their supporters, the terrorist threat remains and does not appear to be shrinking," said Katz.

The jihadist networks, she warned, "have evolved to the point where no gun, bomb, or assassination can harm them permanently."

According to Benjamin, the US experience in Iraq shows that military force is a highly problematic tool for fighting terrorism, "especially fighting an ideologically-driven movement like the jihadists."

As a result the expert recommended fighting Al-Qaeda with its own weapon of choice: ideology.

"The success of US strategy will therefore ultimately depend on Washington's ability to counter Al-Qaeda's ideological appeal," said Hoffman. "Without knowing our enemy we cannot successfully penetrate their cells."

Jarret Brachman, director of research at the Combating Terrorism Center at the West Point military academy, believes the ideological battle is essential.

He called for establishing an interagency research center, "whose sole purpose would be to identify influential advocates of terrorism, analyze their strategic and ideological works and disseminate their analysis to other government agencies involved in this fight."

By Jerome Bernard - WASHINGTON
First Published 2007-02-19, Last Updated 2007-02-20 08:58:59
Middle East On Line
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=19653

Al Qaeda se refuerza en la frontera entre Pakistán y Afganistán

En las áreas tribales de la frontera crecen los campos de entrenamiento de la red terrorista internacional, informa hoy The New York Times citando fuentes de los servicios de inteligencia de EE.UU.



El diario neoyorquino asegura que los jefes de este grupo terrorista, formado por islamistas radicales, han recuperado el control sobre sus hombres, tras años de debilitamiento por el cerco impuesto por las fuerzas de EE. UU. y la coalición internacional en la zona.

Existen cada vez más evidencias de que Osama Bin Laden y su 'segundo de a bordo', Ayman al-Zawahri, han recuperado el contacto con sus hombres y de que han estado levantando campos de entrenamiento y un centro de operaciones en la zona montañosa de Waziristán del norte, en Pakistán, según The New York Times.

Expertos estadounidenses afirmaron que informaciones recientes muestran que dichos campos funcionan bajo una estructura jerárquica laxa y que son dirigidos por grupos de milicianos árabes, paquistaníes y afganos aliados de Al Qaeda. Reciben instrucciones de sus mandos y de al-Zawahri, señalaron los expertos. Bin Laden parece estar poco implicado en estas operaciones.

Las fuentes, señala el diario neoyorquino, han asegurado que los campos de entrenamiento todavía no han alcanzado el nivel de sofisticación de aquéllos con los que contaba Al Qaeda en Afganistán, bajo el dominio Talibán. No obstante, grupos de entre 10 y 20 hombres son adiestrados en estos campos y la infraestructura de Al Qaeda en la zona es cada vez más madura, pese a las operaciones de comabte que EE.UU. dirige desde hace más de cinco años.

Los expertos entrevistados pidieron mantener el anonimato y no quisieron revelar ninguna de las evidencias que muestran este rearme de Al Qaeda en la zona, para no dar a conocer al enemigo los métodos que emplean los servicios de inteligencia estadounidenses, indica The New York Times.

Martes 20 de Febrero de 2007
ADN
Madrid España
http://www.adnmundo.com/contenidos/politica/alqaeda_refuerza_frontera_afganistan_pakistan_pi190207.html

Al Qaeda Chiefs Are Seen to Regain Power

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 — Senior leaders of Al Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established significant control over their once-battered worldwide terror network and over the past year have set up a band of training camps in the tribal regions near the Afghan border, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials.



American officials said there was mounting evidence that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan. Until recently, the Bush administration had described Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri as detached from their followers and cut off from operational control of Al Qaeda.

The United States has also identified several new Qaeda compounds in North Waziristan, including one that officials said might be training operatives for strikes against targets beyond Afghanistan.

American analysts said recent intelligence showed that the compounds functioned under a loose command structure and were operated by groups of Arab, Pakistani and Afghan militants allied with Al Qaeda. They receive guidance from their commanders and Mr. Zawahri, the analysts said. Mr. bin Laden, who has long played less of an operational role, appears to have little direct involvement.

Officials said the training camps had yet to reach the size and level of sophistication of the Qaeda camps established in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. But groups of 10 to 20 men are being trained at the camps, the officials said, and the Qaeda infrastructure in the region is gradually becoming more mature.

The new warnings are different from those made in recent months by intelligence officials and terrorism experts, who have spoken about the growing abilities of Taliban forces and Pakistani militants to launch attacks into Afghanistan. American officials say that the new intelligence is focused on Al Qaeda and points to the prospect that the terrorist network is gaining in strength despite more than five years of a sustained American-led campaign to weaken it.

The intelligence and counterterrorism officials would discuss the classified intelligence only on the condition of anonymity. They would not provide some of the evidence that led them to their assessments, saying that revealing the information would disclose too much about the sources and methods of intelligence collection.

The concern about a resurgent Al Qaeda has been the subject of intensive discussion at high levels of the Bush administration, the officials said, and has reignited debate about how to address Pakistan’s role as a haven for militants without undermining the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president.

Last week, President Bush’s senior counterterrorism adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend, went to Afghanistan during a Middle East trip to meet with security officials about rising concerns on Al Qaeda’s resurgence in Afghanistan and Pakistan, an administration official said.

Officials from several different American intelligence and counterterrorism agencies presented a consistent picture in describing the developments as a major setback to American efforts against Al Qaeda.

A Split Over Strategy

But debates within the administration about how best to deal with the threat have yet to yield any good solutions, officials in Washington said. One counterterrorism official said that some within the Pentagon were advocating American strikes against the camps, but that others argued that any raids could result in civilian casualties. And State Department officials say increased American pressure could undermine President Musharraf’s military-led government.

Some of the interviews with officials were granted after John D. Negroponte, then the director of national intelligence, told Congress last month that “Al Qaeda’s core elements are resilient” and that the organization was “cultivating stronger operational connections and relationships that radiate outward from their leaders’ secure hide-out in Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.”

As recently as 2005, American intelligence assessments described senior leaders of Al Qaeda as cut off from their foot soldiers and able only to provide inspiration for future attacks. But more recent intelligence describes the organization’s hierarchy as intact and strengthening.

“The chain of command has been re-established,” said one American government official, who said that the Qaeda “leadership command and control is robust.”

American officials and analysts said a variety of factors in Pakistan had come together to allow “core Al Qaeda” — a reference to Mr. bin Laden and his immediate circle — to regain some of its strength. The emergence of a relative haven in North Waziristan and the surrounding area has helped senior operatives communicate more effectively with the outside world via courier and the Internet.

The investigation into last summer’s failed plot to bomb airliners in London has led counterterrorism officials to what they say are “clear linkages” between the plotters and core Qaeda operatives in Pakistan. American analysts point out that the trials of terrorism suspects in Britain revealed that some of the defendants had been trained in Pakistan.

In a videotaped statement last year, Mr. Zawahri claimed responsibility for the July 2005 London suicide bombings. Included in the same tape was a statement by one of the London suicide bombers, pledging allegiance to Al Qaeda. Two of the four bombers traveled to Pakistan prior to the attack.

Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, told the House Armed Services Committee last week that Al Qaeda “is on the march.” He said, “Al Qaeda in fact is now functioning exactly as its founder and leader, Osama bin Laden, envisioned it,” because, he said, Qaeda leaders are planning major attacks and inspiring militants to carry out attacks around the globe.

Other experts questioned the seriousness of Pakistan’s commitment. They argued that elements of Pakistan’s military still supported the Taliban and saw them as a valuable proxy to counter the rising influence of India, Pakistan’s regional rival.

Joint Efforts by Militants

Since 2001, members of various militant groups in Pakistan have increased their cooperation with one another in the tribal areas, according to American analysts.

The analysts said that North Waziristan became a hub of militant activity last year, after President Musharraf negotiated a treaty with tribal leaders in the area. He pledged to pull troops back to barracks in the area in exchange for tribal leaders’ ending support for cross-border attacks into Afghanistan, but officials in Washington and Islamabad conceded that the agreement had been a failure.

During a news conference days before last November’s elections, President Bush said of the campaign against Al Qaeda: “Absolutely, we’re winning. Al Qaeda is on the run.”

But in a speech several days ago, Mr. Bush painted a more sober picture of Al Qaeda’s current strength, especially inside Pakistan.

“Taliban and Al Qaeda figures do hide in remote regions of Pakistan,” Mr. Bush said. “This is wild country; this is wilder than the Wild West. And these folks hide and recruit and launch attacks.”

Officials said that both American and foreign intelligence services had collected evidence leading them to conclude that at least one of the camps in Pakistan might be training operatives capable of striking Western targets. A particular concern is that the camps are frequented by British citizens of Pakistani descent who travel to Pakistan on British passports.

In a speech in November, the director general of MI5, Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, said that terrorist plots in Britain “often have links back to Al Qaeda in Pakistan.” She said that “through those links, Al Qaeda gives guidance and training to its largely British foot soldiers here on an extensive and growing scale.”

Leaders Appear Secure

Officials said that the United States still had little idea where Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri had been hiding since 2001, but that the two men were not believed to be present in the camps currently operating in North Waziristan. Among the indicators that American officials cited as a sign that Qaeda leaders felt more secure was the release of 21 statements by Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri in 2006, roughly twice the number as in the previous year.

In the past, statements issued by Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri referred to events that were sometimes several weeks old, one official said, suggesting that the men had difficulty creating a secure means of distributing the tapes. Now, the statements are more current, at times referring to events that occurred days earlier.

American intelligence and counterterrorism officials said that most of the men receiving training in Pakistan had been carrying out attacks inside Afghanistan, but that Al Qaeda had also strengthened its ties to groups in Iraq that had sworn allegiance to Mr. bin Laden. They said dozens of seasoned fighters were moving between Pakistan and Iraq, apparently engaging in an “exchange of best practices” for attacking American forces.

Over the past year, insurgent tactics from Iraq have migrated to Afghanistan, where suicide bombings have increased fivefold and roadside bomb attacks have doubled. In testimony to the House Armed Services Committee last week, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the departing commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, said the United States could not prevail in Afghanistan and defeat global terrorism without addressing the havens in Pakistan.

Pakistani officials say that they are doing their best to gain control of the area and that military efforts to pacify it have failed, but that more reconstruction aid is needed.

Officials said that over the past year, Al Qaeda had also shown an increased international capability, citing as an example its alliance with the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, an Algerian-based group that has carried out a series of attacks in recent months.

Last fall, the Algerian group renamed itself Al Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb. Officials in Washington say they believe that the group is linked to a recent string of sophisticated car bombings and other attacks in Algeria, including a December attack on a bus carrying Halliburton contractors.


David Johnston contributed reporting from Washington, and Carlotta Gall from Islamabad, Pakistan.
By MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID ROHDE
Published: February 19, 2007
WASHINGTON, Feb. 18
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
New York USA
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/19/world/asia/19intel.html?pagewanted=1&ref=world

Bagdad exhibe la reducción de la violencia en un 80%

• Rice pide tiempo para el nuevo plan de seguridad, en su visita sorpresa al país árabe



La euforia se ha apoderado del Gobierno iraquí tras dar cuenta de los primeros resultados de la vasta operación de seguridad puesta en marcha en Bagdad el pasado miércoles. Las autoridades aseguraron ayer que desde ese día la violencia se ha reducido un 80% en la capital. Es solo el principio.

La secretaria de Estado de EEUU, Condoleezza Rice, que visitó ayer por sorpresa Irak, dijo que la ofensiva militar, en la que acabarán implicándose más de 85.000 hombres, "tomará fuerza poco a poco".

HALLAZGO DE UN ARSENAL

El portavoz del operativo militar, Qasem Ata al Masaui, dijo que hasta el momento se han detenido a 144 sospechosos de pertenecer a grupos armados. Algunos están acusados de ser los autores de dos atentados de enero en Bagdad con 150 civiles muertos.

Además dio cuenta del hallazgo de un arsenal de armas con 50 misiles tierra aire de fabricación rusa. Al Musaui explicó también que en las últimos 48 horas han ingresado en la morgue de Bagdad 20 cadáveres sin identificar. Antes de la ofensiva la media de muertos en la capital era de medio centenar, aseguró.

El propio primer ministro iraquí, el chií Nuri al Maliki, calificó de "éxito brillante" el arranque de la operación Aplicamos la Ley en una conversación telefónica que mantuvo el viernes con el presidente de EEUU, George Bush.

Ambos dirigentes se juegan mucho en esta ofensiva. Un fracaso pondría en la cuerda floja a Al Maliki y en serios aprietos a Bush, que ha enviado más tropas a Irak a pesar de la oposición de los demócratas y de gran parte de la opinión pública de su país.

ATENTADOS EN KIRKUK

Durante su breve visita a Bagdad, Rice advirtió que pasará tiempo hasta que la ofensiva de "resultados concretos". El mando estadounidense es consciente de que el descenso de la violencia en la capital es temporal.

De hecho, la operación no ha cogido por sorpresa a nadie. Hace varias semanas que se anunció su preparación. Rice, que además de entrevistarse con Al Maliki se reunió con el presidente iraquí, el kurdo Yalal Talabani, y con el vicepresidente, el suní Tarel Al Hachemi, hizo un llamamiento a los políticos iraquís a que impulsen la reconciliación nacional.

Pero si la relativa calma reinó ayer en Bagdad, no ocurrió lo mismo en Kirkuk, la rica ciudad petrolífera del norte del país. Dos coches bomba estallaron en un mercado y acabaron con la vida de 10 personas y dejaron heridas a 60. Washington, por su lado, advirtió al clérigo radical chií, Moktada al Sadr, al que acusan de fomentar la guerra confesional, que opte por la "via de la paz y la reconciliación", de lo contrarios será perseguido por el Gobierno iraquí con ayuda de EEUU.

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18/2/2007 Edición Impresa
ÉXITO DE LA OPERACIÓN APLICAMOS LA LEY EN IRAK
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Dos coches bomba causan más de 60 muertos en un mercado de Bagdad

Más de 60 personas han muerto y 128 han resultado heridas tras la explosión de dos coches bomba en un mercado del distrito de Nuevo Bagdad, de mayoría chií, según fuentes policiales iraquís.



Los hechos se han producido a las 16:00 hora local (14:00 hora española), en un mercado al aire libre. Se trata del atentado más importante perpetrado en la capital iraquí desde la puesta en marcha del nuevo plan de seguridad, el pasado miércoles.

Los dos coches bomba estaban aparcados en la zona y fueron supuestamente accionados por control remoto, han añadido las fuentes, y no se descarta que el recuento de víctimas pueda aumentar, ya que las cifras ofrecidas son las primeras informaciones del ataque.

Además, la explosión de un tercer vehículo conducido por un suicida ha causado la muerte de un policía. El atentado, ocurrido en el barrio de Baladiat, también en el este de la capital, ha tenido como blanco un puesto de control militar.

Continúa la violencia en Bagdad

Por otro lado, otros tres agentes han perdido la vida y cuatro han resultado heridos de diversa consideración en un ataque armado contra su patrulla en la provincia de Salah al Din

Las nuevas explosiones se han producido el quinto día del nuevo plan de seguridad en Bagdad, denominado "Aplicamos la Ley", destinado a acabar con las acciones terroristas contra la población civil, incautar las armas ilegales y permitir el regreso de los iraquís que se han visto obligados a abandonar sus viviendas.

Planning Seen in Iraqi Attacks on U.S. Copters

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 — Documents captured from Iraqi insurgents indicate that some of the recent fatal attacks against American helicopters are a result of a carefully planned strategy to focus on downing coalition aircraft, one that American officials say has been carried out by mounting coordinated assaults with machine guns, rockets and surface-to-air missiles.



The documents, said to have been drafted by Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, show that the militants were preparing to “concentrate on the air force.” The contents of the documents are described in an American intelligence report that was reviewed by The New York Times.

Seized near Baghdad, the documents reflect the insurgents’ military preparations from late last year, including plans for attacking aircraft using a variety of weapons.

Officials say they are a fresh indication that the United States is facing an array of “adaptive” adversaries in Iraq, enemies who are likely to step up their attacks as American forces expand their efforts to secure Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.

“Attacks on coalition aircraft probably will increase if helicopter missions expand during the latest phase of the Baghdad Security Plan or if insurgents seek to emulate their recent successes,” notes the intelligence report, which analyzes the recent helicopter crashes.

The American military has said that seven helicopters have been downed since Jan. 20, a figure that exceeds the total number of coalition aircraft shot down in 2006.

After downing the helicopters, the insurgents often laid ambushes for the American ground troops they expected to come to the rescue, sometimes using roadside bombs that they placed in advance. American troops were attacked in five instances in which they rushed to the scene of aircraft that had been shot down, military officials said.

The intelligence report supports the concerns expressed by an American general this month that militants were adapting their tactics in an effort to step up attacks against helicopters. Such strikes have increased since the United States expanded its military operations in Baghdad in August. From December to January, the number of antiaircraft attacks rose by 17 percent, according to an American military report.

Insurgents in Iraq have boasted about the helicopter downings and posted video of some of the wreckage on militant Web sites. While Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia has claimed it has “new ways” to shoot down the aircraft, some American analysts believe they are probably not employing new types of weapons but rather are making more effective use of arms already in their inventory.

The insurgents try to plan their attacks by studying flight patterns near American bases and along supply routes, according to the intelligence report.

In several recent helicopter downings, the attackers used a variety of weapons, including shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and unguided rockets that cannot be diverted by the flares helicopters disperse to fool heat-seeking systems.

Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, which the intelligence report says leads the insurgent group known as the Islamic State of Iraq, has claimed responsibility for shooting down three of the helicopters. Those helicopters were downed near Taji, Karma and in Diyala Province.

While the captured documents point to careful planning, it is not entirely clear whether this is an effort by some of the militant commanders in those areas or a nationwide strategy by the group.

Maj. Gen. James E. Simmons, a deputy commander of the American-led multinational force in Iraq and an Army aviator, told reporters this week that multiple weapons systems had been used against American troops before, in attacks south of Baghdad last year.

“This is not a new tactic,” he said. “But it is the first time that we have seen it employed in several months.”

“We are engaged with a thinking enemy,” he added. “This enemy understands based on the reporting and everything else that we are in the process of executing the prime minister’s new plan for the security of Baghdad. And they understand the strategic implications of shooting down an aircraft.”

He said that American commanders in Iraq have met to consider how to counter the shift in insurgent tactics, but he refused to discuss specifics.

General Simmons said the American military had not concluded whether a single militant cell was behind the attacks. Some of the attacks have been described by American intelligence as “opportunistic,” meaning insurgents are simply firing at helicopters when they seen them.

American helicopters are being used extensively as American troops try to avoid the bombs hidden along streets and roads. Low-flying aircraft are also vulnerable when they pass over urban areas. In 2005, American Army helicopters flew 240,000 hours. In 2007, Army helicopters are expected to fly more than 400,000 hours, military officials said.

General Simmons had a firsthand look at opportunistic tactics on Jan. 25, when he was in one of a group of helicopters that was fired on near Hit in Anbar Province. In that attack, a Black Hawk helicopter in the group was stuck by automatic weapons fire after the helicopters flew near some militants who appeared to be removing or bringing arms to a weapons cache.

The damaged Black Hawk helicopter was forced to land. The helicopter General Simmons was in landed and picked up the crew, and the Marines sent a quick-reaction force to protect the aircraft, which was later brought to the American base at Asad.

“I’ve got firsthand knowledge on that one,” General Simmons said. “We stumbled upon them, and they engaged us with what they had, and they got lucky.”

Military officials say another opportunistic downing was the attack on an Apache helicopter near Najaf on Jan. 28 that killed both of the crew members. It occurred when the aircraft was sent to reinforce American and Iraqi troops. The officials also noted that the attack was the only recent instance in which a Shiite group — in this case, the Soldiers of Heaven — was responsible for shooting down a helicopter.

The Feb. 7 attack on a Marine CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopter near Karma, an insurgent stronghold near Falluja, was initially attributed by military officials to mechanical problems. But this week they acknowledged it had been downed by hostile fire, most likely a shoulder-fired missile and heavy-caliber machine-gun fire.

In the video posted on the Internet by the Islamic State of Iraq, the Sea Knight is seen flying toward the camera. Then it banks to the right and turns a half-circle. An object darts into the screen from the right, trailed by a curl of black smoke. Moments after the object enters the frame, an explosion rips through the helicopter, which falls to the ground in flames.

Gen. James Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, confirmed Friday that the video seemed genuine. General Conway also told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the CH-46’s defensive systems intended to shield the aircraft from missiles “did not properly deploy” when it came under attack from the ground.

The CH-46 did not release flares, which fire automatically and are intended to fool a heat-seeking missile into flying away from the aircraft. Nor did the helicopter take defensive maneuvers, which military officials said suggested that the pilots did not see the missile before they were hit.

Col. Dave Lapan, a Marine spokesman, said investigators were looking into whether the flare system malfunctioned or whether there had been other reasons the system failed, including “environmental factors,” and whether the missile had characteristics that prevented it from being detected.

The recent spate of helicopter attacks began Jan. 20 with the shooting of a Black Hawk in Diyala Province that killed 12 soldiers on board. Three days later, a helicopter operated by the Blackwater security company crashed, leading to the deaths of five civilian contractors, including one thought to have been killed by militants surviving the crash. On Jan. 25, the Black Hawk helicopter in General Simmons’s group was forced to land near Hit, but there were no casualties.

Two American crew members were killed in the Apache helicopter downing near Najaf on Jan. 28. On Jan. 31, a helicopter carrying civilian contractors was hit by small-arms fire near Baghdad and forced to land, but there were no casualties. On Feb. 2, two Americans were killed when their Apache was shot down in a coordinated attack. Seven marines died in the Sea Knight downing near Karma on Feb. 7.

By MICHAEL R. GORDON and DAVID S. CLOUD
Published: February 18, 2007
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Rice, in Surprise Baghdad Visit, Presses Leaders for Progress

BAGHDAD, Feb. 17 — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Baghdad on Saturday to meet with Iraqi officials about the new security plan and to press the Shiite-led government to accelerate reconciliation, reconstruction and economic progress.



Iraqi officials in recent days have said the start of the new push for security in Baghdad has been a success, significantly reducing violence.

Ms. Rice, in a meeting with reporters after her talk with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders, said it was still too early to judge the effectiveness of the new plan. But she said she had pushed the Iraqis to think beyond short-term security, to how neighborhoods and Iraqi civil society could be rebuilt if sectarian violence between the ruling Shiites and the minority Sunnis subsided.

She said she had told Iraq’s leaders to quickly finish work on an oil law that would distribute revenues evenly among Iraq’s population. She also stressed the importance of creating a more balanced government by rehiring thousands of Sunni civil servants whom the Americans fired soon after the invasion in 2003, fearing they would remain loyal to Saddam Hussein.

She described both proposed moves as proxies for larger, still unanswered questions about whether Iraq could become a truly united country.

“I’m told that the oil law is almost complete.” she said. “I did say to my colleagues that I’ve heard it’s almost complete before, and this time I hope it really is complete — as in, complete — because people are looking to see some elements of national reconciliation put into place. It’s really critical.”

The Baghdad stop, tagged on to Ms. Rice’s scheduled trip to Israel, comes at a politically delicate time for the Bush administration. On Friday, a sharply divided House of Representatives passed a resolution formally repudiating President Bush’s decision to send more than 20,000 new combat troops to Iraq.

The rare wartime rebuke to the commander in chief — an act that is not binding but carries symbolic significance — was approved 246 to 182, with 17 Republicans breaking ranks to join all but 2 Democrats in supporting the resolution.

Ms. Rice said she used the restiveness in Washington to underline for Iraqi officials the spread of American frustration with Iraq’s lagging political and economic progress.

She said she had “made clear that some of the debate in Washington is, in fact, indicative of the concerns that the American people have about the prospects for success” if Iraq’s leaders did not quickly take actions to ensure longer-term stability.

Ms. Rice also addressed the administration’s recent claim that the Quds Force, an elite branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, had supplied Shiite militants in Iraq with deadly roadside bombs that had killed American troops. Echoing comments made by President Bush, Ms. Rice said she did not know whether the top levels of Iran’s government had approved delivering the weapons to Iraq. But she said she did not think that excused Iran.

“It is an activity that is done by an element of the Iranian government,” she said, “so I think the Iranian government has to be held accountable for it.”

Earlier Saturday, Ms. Rice addressed about 25o American soldiers and civilian State Department employees at a palace that doubles as the United States Embassy. Standing in a cavernous lounge, beside an American espresso bar and below gilded ceilings embossed with Mr. Hussein’s initials, she acknowledged criticism over the war in Congress.

“Some do not think this war was the right war to fight,” she said. “Some believe we in the administration haven’t fought it quite right.” But she also insisted that, despite those disagreements, both Democrats and Republicans appreciated the troops’ efforts.

“We can have our discussions and debates at home, but Americans want to win this war,” she said. “You’re in a noble cause.”

Ms. Rice also said that Iraq’s struggles for stability were not dissimilar from what the United States once experienced: “Perfect union was imperfect at its start.”

She said Iraq’s situation was similar, and she cautioned against viewing Iraqis as less competent at building a democracy. “Usually people think of war and peace,” she said. “We all know that, in between, there’s a lot.”

Ms. Rice’s visit came on a day of relative calm in Baghdad, but in the northern city of Kirkuk, two car bombs near the offices of a Kurdish political party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, killed nine people.

After her day in Baghdad, Ms. Rice traveled to Israel for a meeting on Monday between the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert.


Helene Cooper contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: February 18, 2007
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
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Más de medio centenar de personas mueren en Bagdad en la explosión de dos coches bombas

Los atentados más graves desde que se puso en marcha el nuevo plan de seguridad en Bagdad dejan más de 120 heridos, según cifras de la Policía



La explosión de dos coches bomba en la capital iraquí ha causado la muerte de una treintena de personas y herido a otras 120, según cálculos de la Policía de Bagdad. La explosión se ha producido en las inmediaciones de un mercado al aire libre del barrio de mayoría chií de Nuevo Bagdad. Es el atentado más grande desde la puesta en marcha del nuevo plan de seguridad de la ciudad.

La explosión casi simultánea de dos turismos cargados de explosivos ha tenido lugar a las cuatro de la tarde en el barrio de mayoría chií de Nuevo Bagdad. Los dos vehículos estaban aparcados en la zona y fueron supuestamente accionados por control remoto, según fuentes consultadas.

La Policía teme que la cifra de víctimas pueda aumentar; de hecho, fuentes médicas ya hablan de más de 56 victimas mortales.

AGENCIAS - Bagdad - 18/02/2007
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Condoleezza Rice visita por sorpresa las tropas de EE UU en Bagdad

La explosión de dos coches bomba en un mercado de Kirkuk deja al menos diez muertos muertos y medio centenar de heridos



La secretaria de Estado estadounidense, Condoleezza Rice, ha llegado por sorpresa esta mañana a Bagdad, en un breve viaje en el que se entrevistará con los altos mandos militares iraquíes y estadounidenses. La visita coincide con el varapalo recibido por la Administración Bush en el Congreso, de mayoría demócrata, donde ayer se aprobó una resolución contraria a los planes de mandar 21.500 soldados a Irak.

Un portavoz de la embajada de Estados Unidos en Irak ha anunciado esta mañana el viaje de Rice, en el que puede reunirse con el primer ministro, Nouri Al Maliki. Rice llega a Bagdad tres días después de que el Gobierno iraquí lanzara oficialmente el nuevo plan de Seguridad para la capital. Precisamente a esta ciudad irán destinados 17.000 de los nuevos soldados que el Gobierno de EE UU quiere mandar a Irak, a pesar del rechazo de los demócratas al su nuevo plan para ampliar el despliegue militar.

El rechazo ayer de la propuesta de Bush en la Cámara de Representantes muestra una vez más lo que ya dicen las encuestas desde hace meses: la mayoría de los ciudadanos de Estados Unidos se opone al aumento de tropas en Irak. La moción, que ha salido adelante por 246 apoyos contra 182, ha sido auspiciada por los demócratas, pero ha contado con el respaldo de 17 miembros del Partido Republicano. El texto aprobado no es vinculante pero sí significativo, pues con él crece la presión de la Administración Bush para cambiar su estrategia política.

Dos coches bomba

Mientras, la violencia sectaria no cesa y sigue haciendo crecer la lista de víctimas mortales en el país. Esta misma mañana, la explosión de dos coches bomba cerca de un mercado de Kirkuk ha provocado la muerte de al menos diez personas y herido a más de 40. Los atentados se han producido en esta rica ciudad petrolera, situada a 250 kilómetros al norte de Bagdad, poco después de las diez de la mañana (08.00 hora peninsular española).

Las autoridades policiales temen que la cifra de víctimas aumente debido a que, como ya es habitual, las explosiones han tenido lugar en una zona repleta de gente; además, algunos de los heridos se encuentran en estado muy grave. Las bombas han destruido también una veintena de tiendas. Según fuentes policiales citadas por la televisión Al Yazira, uno de los coches estaba conducido por un suicida, mientras que el otro estaba preparado para detonar.

Esta misma ciudad -donde conviven suníes, chiíes, kurdos y turcomanos- ha sido el escenario de al menos seis atentados similares contra tiendas y sedes de partidos kurdos en las últimas semanas. Kirkuk es una de las ciudades más conflictivas de Irak porque los kurdos y los suníes, apoyados por los turcomanos, se disputan su control y su eventual pertenencia a alguna de las regiones del futuro Irak federal.

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Explotan dos coches bomba en un mercado concurrido de la ciudad iraquí de Kirkuk

BAGDAD.- Dos coches bomba han explotado en un concurrido mercado de Kirkuk (Irak) y han matado al menos a seis personas. El número de heridos asciende a 45, muchos de ellos graves.



Este recuento es provisional y se cree que el número de víctimas puede ir creciendo, debido a la extrema gravedad del estado de varios de los heridos, según ha explicado el general de la policía local Burhan Wasef.

Las bombas destruyeron también al menos 20 tiendas en la zona y varias ambulancias se presentaron en el lugar para trasladar a los heridos a hospitales.

Esta misma ciudad del norte del país, donde conviven suníes, chiíes, kurdos y turcomanos, ha sido el escenario de al menos seis atentados similares contra tiendas y sedes de partidos kurdos en las últimas semanas.

Kirkuk es una de las ciudades más conflictivas de Irak porque los kurdos y los suníes, apoyados por los turcomanos, se disputan su control y su eventual pertenencia a alguna de las regiones del futuro Irak federal.

Actualizado sábado 17/02/2007 09:50 (CET)
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Cadena perpetua para siete miembros de Al Qaeda por los atentados de Estambul

ESTAMBUL.- Un tribunal de Turquía ha condenado a cadena perpetua a siete militantes de Al Qaeda implicados en los atentados cometidos en Estambul en noviembre de 2003, que causaron la muerte a 62 personas, entre ellas un alto diplomático británico. Los objetivos de aquellos ataques fueron dos sinagogas, el Banco HSBC y el Consulado del Reino Unido.



Entre los condenados se encuentra el sirio Louai Sakka, a quien se considera el líder de Al Qaeda en Turquía. En el juicio, que se desarrolló en Ankara, han sido juzgadas 73 personas por su implicación en la masacre.

Louai Sakka ha sido condenado como organizador de los atentados y responsable de su financiación. Las otros seis personas sentenciadas a cadena perpetua son ciudadanos turcos a los que se les responsabiliza de preparar las bombas.

Según el Tribunal de lo Penal que dictó la sentencia, los condenados son miembros de una célula turca de la citada red terrorista. De acuerdo con la fiscalía, Sakka recibió directamente del líder de Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, la orden de organizar la operación terrorista en Estambul.

El terrorista sirio rechazó su implicación en los atentados con bombas y dijo que había venido a Turquía para atentar contra barcos israelíes y denunció que agentes de la CIA lo habían interrogado en la cárcel de Kandira.

En su declaración final, Sakka leyó pasajes del Corán y dijo: "Llevo detenido 558 días por haber atacado un barco israelí. Aquí no he sido condenado yo, sino que ha sido condenada la resistencia iraquí." En un mensaje a sus compañeros, añadió: "La victoria está muy cerca. No penséis en mí. Yo también voy a salir adelante y abrazaré mis armas y me uniré con vosotros a las brigadas de la Yihad".

Las medidas de seguridad han marcado los dos últimos días del proceso contra 73 encausados por los atentados suicidas que acabaron con la vida de 62 personas, además de herir a otras 600. El enorme despliegue se debía a los rumores de que Sakka podría fugarse con la ayuda de Al Qaeda.

Los atentados se perpetraron en dos jornadas distintas, la primera el 15 de noviembre, cuando dos explosiones casi simultáneas con coches bomba junto a sendas sinagogas en Estambul, causaron 23 muertos y 277 heridos.

El día 20 de noviembre, treinta personas murieron y otras 450 resultan heridas en los atentados suicidas perpetrados contra el consulado del Reino Unido y una entidad bancaria de capital británico en Estambul.

La cifra final de muertos ascendió a 62 debido al fallecimiento de heridos muy graves los días posteriores al atentado.

Actualizado viernes 16/02/2007 20:49 (CET)
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El líder de Al Qaeda en Irak resulta herido en un enfrentamiento, según Bagdad

* La policía iraquí tiene el cuerpo del colaborador pero no informa si Masri ha sido capturado

* Abu Ayub al Masri lidera la rama iraquí de Al Qaeda desde la muerte de al Zarqaui



DUBAI.- El líder de Al Qaeda en Irak, Abu Ayub al Masri, ha resultado herido en un enfrentamiento en el norte de Bagdad, según ha informado este viernes la cadena Al Arabiya citando al Ministerio del Interior iraquí.

La cadena ha explicado que el máximo colaborador de Al Masri, también conocido como Abu Hamza al Muhajir, murió en el incidente, pero no dio mas detalles.

Según el portavoz oficial, la Policía tiene el cuerpo del colaborador, pero se ha negado a informar sobre si Al Masri ha sido o no capturado. Un portavoz militar de Estados Unidos en Bagdad ha declarado que aún no disponen de información sobre el incidente. Mientras un portavoz del ministerio, citado en un informe del canal estatal iraquí Al Iraqiya, dijo que Al Masri había escapado.

Por otra parte, el general Abdul Karim Khalaf de la Policía iraquí ha explicado a la CNN que las fuerzas de seguridad tuvieron un enfrentamiento con varios insurgentes en la carretera que une Falluja, al oeste de Bagdad, con la ciudad de Samarrra, al norte de la capital, donde resultó herido Al Masri.

Al Masri, de origen egipcio, asumió el liderazgo de la rama iraquí de Al Qaeda después de que el militante jordano Abu Musab al Zarqaui muriera en junio en un ataque aéreo estadounidense.

El Ejército estadounidense ha descrito a Al Masri como unos de los colaboradores más cercanos al difunto Al Zarqaui, quien se entrenó en Afganistán y formó la primera célula de Al Qaeda en Bagdad.

Una recompensa de cinco millones

De hecho, Estados Unidos ha ofrecido una recompensa de cinco millones de dólares por la cabeza de Al Masri.

En octubre pasado, el consejero de Seguridad Nacional de Irak, Muafaq al Rubeai, afirmó que las cuerpos de seguridad de su país estuvieron a punto de capturar a Al Masri en Yusufiya (sur de Bagdad), y llegó a mostrar un vídeo con supuestas imágenes suyas.

En el vídeo, el primero en que se podía ver a Abu Ayub al Masri, éste da lecciones a sus hombres sobre cómo preparar coches bomba.

Actualizado viernes 16/02/2007 11:27 (CET)
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Fuentes policiales desmienten que el cabecilla de Al Qaeda en Iraq esté herido

Bagdad. (EFE).- Fuentes policiales que pidieron no ser identificadas aseguraron hoy que no han recibido ninguna información de que el cabecilla de Al Qaeda en Iraq, Abu Ayub Al Masri, haya sido herido en un combate con tropas iraquíes.



Un oficial de policía de la central de la provincia de Salahadín, en el norte de Iraq, donde supuestamente resultó herido el jefe de Al Qaeda, dijo que no han recibido ningún informe de las comisarías de la región sobre enfrentamientos armados con milicianos.

Tampoco, dijo la fuente, se ha recibido ninguna comunicación que indique que Al Masri haya sido herido, ni que su colaborador Abu Abdala, haya muerto, como informó el Gobierno.

A última hora de ayer, jueves, el portavoz del Ministerio del Interior Abdelkarim Khalf dijo que el cabecilla de Al Qaeda en Iraq había resultado herido en un combate con tropas iraquíes en Balad, una plaza fuerte de la insurgencia iraquí 80 kilómetros al norte de Bagdad.

Según el oficial, el único área que presencia actualmente operaciones militares es Duloiya, donde el Ejército estadounidense pelea contra los insurgentes por séptimo día consecutivo.

Mientras, una fuente en el hospital de Balad que pidió no ser mencionada dijo que no ha recibido cadáveres sin identificar en los tres últimos días, aunque puntualizó que "cuando hay un cadáver de una personalidad importante, las tropas estadounidenses se lo llevan a sus forenses".

16/02/2007 | Actualizada a las 15:55h
Viernes 16 de febrero 2007 | Actualizado a las 16:02h
Bagdad. (EFE).-
LA VANGUARDIA, el diario más vendido en Catalunya.
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Detenidos al menos 73 miembros de los Hermanos Musulmanes en Egipto

Unos 73 miembros de la proscrita pero influyente organización de los Hermanos Musulmanes han sido detenidos esta madrugada en siete provincias de Egipto, en un nuevo golpe ontra esta asociación islámica, la mayor fuerza de oposición política.



Según datos de esa organización, los arrestos han sucedido en El Cairo, Guiza, Alejandría y varias provincias del delta del Nilo.

Conforme a una lista de detenidos ofrecida por los Hermanos Musulmanes, entre los detenidos hay ex candidatos a las elecciones parlamentarias de 2005, directores de las oficinas de varios diputados, profesores universitarios, ingenieros y empresarios.

Fuentes del Ministerio de Interior han explicado que los activistas estaban preparándose para presentarse a las elecciones al Senado, previstas para el próximo abril.

Este nuevo golpe contra los Hermanos Musulmanes, la mayor fuerza de la oposición egipcia, se convierte en el último capítulo de una campaña de arrestos y detenciones contra esta organización conservadora que comenzó en plenas elecciones parlamentarias, en diciembre de 2005, en las que obtuvieron 88 escaños de los 454 de la Cámara.

El acoso contra los miembros de esta asociación se intensificó el pasado diciembre después de que varios estudiantes de la universidad de Al Azhar, en el Cairo, hicieran una exhibición de artes marciales vestidos como milicianos del grupo palestino Hamás.

El mes pasado el Ministerio de Interior decidió presentar a varios dirigentes de los Hermanos Musulmanes ante los tribunales militares, acusados de blanqueo de dinero y de pertenecer a una organización prohibida que intenta derrocar al gobierno por medios ilegales.

"Esta nueva campaña de arrestos es parte de las medidas preventivas lanzadas por el régimen egipcio ante las próximas elecciones al Senado", asegura un comunicado de la organización islámica.

La nota agrega que esta campaña es un "intento del régimen de presionar a los Hermanos para aligerar su fuerte oposición a las reformas constitucionales", que pretende introducir el régimen.

Muchos intelectuales y observadores políticos ven estas reformas constitucionales como un intento de acabar con la presencia de esa organización en la esfera política.

Se basan en la enmienda del artículo cinco, que recogerá, en caso de ser aprobada, la prohibición de realizar actividades políticas o formar partidos sobre bases religiosas.

15/02/2007 - 20:12
IBLNEWS, AGENCIAS
Nueva York - Viernes, 16 febrero 2007
- Año VIII - Nº 3348 -
Director: M. Amigot
New York USA
http://iblnews.com/story.php?id=22962

El presunto ideólogo de la masacre del 11-M Rabei Osman El Sayed, 'Mohamed El Egipcio', negó hoy ante la Sección Segunda de lo Penal de la Audiencia N

El presunto ideólogo de la masacre del 11-M Rabei Osman El Sayed, 'Mohamed El Egipcio', negó hoy ante la Sección Segunda de lo Penal de la Audiencia Nacional que haya tenido vinculación alguna con Al Qaeda o con ninguna organización islamista.



Añadió, además, que nunca ha sido encarcelado o procesado por ninguna causa, ni siquiera en su país de origen, Egipto.

El acusado explicó que posee todos los documentos oficiales egipcios, tanto a nivel académico como militar y que éstos fueron obtenidos a través de los trámites normales, cosa imposible en su país si se está acusado de pertenencia a organizaciones islamista.

Relató a la Sala que realizó el servicio militar en su país de origen, Egipto, en 1991, donde pasó a formar parte de una unidad encargada de tareas administrativas, a la que quedó destinado cuando sus superiores se percataron de que tenía una buena caligrafía de los caracteres árabes. Allí permaneció hasta 1993, aunque no ejerció ninguna actividad de tipo militar, sino administrativa.

Asimismo, aclaró que estaba destinado en la oficina de acogida de nuevos reclutas, mientras que el batallón se encontraba en el desierto, adonde nunca tuvo que acudir, por lo que no estaba especializado en explosivos ni en demoliciones. Negó también que permaneciera como voluntario en el Ejército egipcio cuando terminó su periodo de servicio militar obligatorio.

11-m 15-02-2007
Terra Actualidad - Europa Press
Terra
Madrid España
http://actualidad.terra.es/nacional/articulo/egipcio_qaeda_niega_cualquier_vinculacion_1396423.htm

El gran estratega en la expansión de Al Qaeda fue el talibán granadino

Setmariam, un vendedor ambulante que pasó más de dos años en la capital, usó el potencial de Internet Los expertos creen que está preso en una cárcel secreta de la CIA, sometido a interrogatorios sin tregua



EL paradero de Mustafá Setmariam Nasar sigue siendo un misterio aun después de su captura. Antes de ser detenido en Pakistán en una refriega a tiros, el presunto criminal hispano sirio era una escurridiza sombra a la que Estados Unidos había puesto precio: cinco millones de dólares. Su arresto no ha servido para sacarle de la clandestinidad. La guerra sucia de la administración Bush contra el terrorismo internacional es una apisonadora de los derechos más elementales. Setmariam sigue siendo una sombra, pero con grilletes.

La hipótesis más plausible es que ahora mismo esté encerrado en una cárcel secreta de la CIA y sometido a interrogatorios sin tregua... y a torturas. Javier Jordán, profesor de la Universidad de Granada y una autoridad nacional en el estudio del movimiento 'yihadista' mundial, está convencido de que ése ha sido el destino de Setmariam.

Los servicios de inteligencia estadounidenses quieren exprimirle al máximo porque saben que no es un cualquiera. Al contrario. Según Jordán, Setmariam, ha sido el ideólogo de la guerra santa contra Occidente. Él proporcionó el marco teórico que inspiró a los 'ejércitos' de la 'yihad', a los iluminados que murieron matando en Nueva York, Madrid o Londres. «Setmariam ha sido el gran estratega de Al Qaeda -la 'multinacional' terrorista que dirige Bin Laden-. Él siempre ha dicho que Al Qaeda debería servir para movilizar al mundo musulmán, pero no para aniquilar a Occidente, sino para conseguir que los occidentales se olvidasen de ellos y les dejasen en paz», explica el experto de la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociología de Granada.

Dinamita contra el infiel

Y para alejar el peligro de la 'contaminación', dinamita. «La estrategia la toman de Hizbolá -la poderosa organización islamista de Líbano- que en 1983 consigue que se vayan las tropas extranjeras con atentados simultáneos e indiscriminados, muy similares a los del 11 de Marzo en Madrid», destaca el profesor Jordán los parecidos.

Taller de costura

Setmariam fue también consciente de que Internet era un arma cargada de futuro y fomentó su utilización. De hecho, la red ha acabado por convertirse en un instrumento esencial para la expansión de Al Qaeda. Es el altavoz sin fronteras que amplifica las 'hazañas bélicas' de los extremistas.

Así las cosas, el activista hispano sirio, que está casado con una madrileña convertida al Islam, ha volcado toda su doctrina en Internet, relata Jordán. Tras distanciarse de Bin Laden (al que achacaba un desmedido afán de protagonismo), dedicó el tiempo a redactar una especie de 'libro de instrucciones' del 'yihadista', un documento que, al parecer, es un auténtico 'best-seller' entre los fanáticos religiosos.

Ya entonces, Setmariam se sentía acorralado. Sabía que su suerte se agotaba. Apenas salía de su escondite. Era uno de los hombres más buscados del mundo y estaba prácticamente solo.

Atrás quedaban los años en que se instaló en Granada -a principios de la década de los 90- y vivía, aparentemente, de la venta ambulante de artesanía y complementos. Su carné profesional, expedido por la Junta de Andalucía, muestra cómo era el rostro de Setmariam por aquel entonces. Es una de las escasísimas fotografías que existen del talibán 'granadino'.

La singular acreditación fue hallada en la riñonera de un vecino de la provincia que ha sido condenado por pertenecer a la célula española de Al Qaeda.

Setamariam residió en Granada algo más de dos años y tuvo la intención, según informaciones policiales, de montar un taller de costura en su casa, una idea que finalmente no prosperó. El supuesto terrorista pelirrojo vivió en la localidad de Alfacar.

Su función en el movimiento 'yihadista' consistirá entonces en captar adeptos para la causa, jóvenes combatientes que recibirían su bautismo de fuego en las trincheras de Afganistán o Chechenia. Era un líder en formación.

En un salto sorprendente, de la venta ambulante pasó a dirigir una revista islamista en Londres. Su prestigio crece a pasos agigantados. Luego dejó el Reino Unido y reapareció en Afganistán al mando de un campo de entrenamiento de soldados para alimentar la guerra santa contra Occidente. Ya es un 'general' de Al Qaeda y tiene una gran ascendiente sobre el Mulá Omar, el tuerto que, antes de huir, estaba en en la cúspide del régimen afgano de los talibanes.

Vivo o muerto

El informador hispano sirio -residente también en Granada-, Taysir Alony -condenado por su relación con la célula española de Al Qaeda y el único periodista que entrevistó a Bin Laden tras los ataques contra los Torres Gemelas- declaró en su día que Setmariam «hizo de mediador con el gobierno talibán para que le permitieran (a Alony) abrir una delegación de la televisión (...) Al Yazira». Tras la invasión de Afganistán y la estampida de los talibanes -que, por cierto, ahora están recuperando posiciones-, Setmariam se convierte en un fantasma al que los servicios de inteligencia de medio planeta buscaban vivo o muerto. Fue detenido con vida y está cautivo en una cárcel de sombras.

Martes, 13 de febrero de 2007
Vocento
© Ideal Comunicación Digital
Granada España
http://www.ideal.es/granada/prensa/20070213/local_granada/gran-estratega-expansion-qaeda_20070213.html

Irak decreta el cierre de sus fronteras con Irán y Siria como parte de su nuevo plan de seguridad

El Gobierno iraquí ha decretado hoy el cierre de sus fronteras con Siria e Irán y la extensión del toque de queda en Bagdad como respuesta al estallido de violencia que dejó ayer 88 muertos y 186 heridos en dos barrios mayoritariamente chiíes de la capital iraquí. Estas medidas, además, forman parte del nuevo plan de seguridad del primer ministro Las nuevas medidas se enmarcan dentro del plan de seguridad del primer ministro iraquí Nuri al Maliki el que participarán 85.000 soldados y policías, entre iraquíes y estadounidenses.



Las medidas de seguridad han sido presentadas en conferencia de prensa por el primer ministro chií Nuri Al Maliki junto al general Abboud Qanbar, el oficial iraquí que lidera la ofensiva de seguridad en Bagdad con el apoyo de Estados Unidos. Qanbar ha matizado que las fronteras con Irán estarán precintadas durante las próximas 72 horas. Este militar no ha especificado cuanto tiempo lo estarán los accesos a Siria.

En cuanto a Bagdad, centro de muchos de los ataques que desangran Irak, las autoridades han dividido la capital iraquí en diez zonas que serán administradas por un general del Ejército con la potestad de adoptar las medidas que considere convenientes para imponer el orden y la seguridad.

Una furgoneta bomba causa 18 muertos

La violencia no da tregua en Irak. Al menos 18 personas han muerto y otras 38 han resultado heridas hoy en la explosión de una furgoneta bomba en el aparcamiento de una facultad universitaria en Bagdad, según ha informado el ministerio del Interior. La fuente ha explicado que la furgoneta estaba situada en el aparcamiento de la facultad de Economía de la Universidad de Bagdad y cerca de un centro de distribución de alimentos propiedad del ministerio de Comercio en el barrio Iskan, en el oeste de la capital.

Fuentes policiales han afirmado que el atentado fue perpetrado por un suicida, pero el ministerio del Interior desmiente ese extremo y ha asegurado que vehículo fue abandonado en el aparcamiento por un desconocido que detonó el explosivo por mando a distancia. La explosión ha causado, además, la destrucción de 15 vehículos que se encontraban aparcados en la zona.

Según testigos presenciales, un edifico de apartamentos, se ha derrumbado con varios inquilinos en su interior, a consecuencia del estallido, que pudo oirse desde varios puntos de la región. Los equipos de rescate han iniciado los trabajos de socorro para salvar a las personas atrapadas entre los escombros, han añadido las fuentes.

Un soldado estadounidense murió el pasado domingo en el curso de un enfrentamiento armado en la convulsa provincia de Anbar, en el oeste de Irak, según ha informado hoy el Ejército en un comunicado. Con él ya son al menos 3.126 los miembros de las fuerzas estadounidenses muertos en Irak desde que comenzó la guerra, en marzo de 2003, según un recuento de Associated Press.

13/02/2007 - 18:10
IBLNEWS, AGENCIAS
Nueva York - Viernes, 16 febrero 2007 -
Año VIII - Nº 3348 -
Director: M. Amigot
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http://iblnews.com/story.php?id=22888

Once detenidos en Francia por su presunta relación con Al Qaeda

La Policía francesa ha detenido a once personas por su presunta relación con la red terrorista internacional de Al Qaeda. La operación se inició el martes en el aeropuerto de Orly de la capital francesa con la detención de dos hombres y continuó este miércoles con el arresto de otras nueve personas.



El ministro del Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy, principal candidato de la derecha para las presidenciales francesas de abril y mayo, se mostró satisfecho con estas detenciones. En un comunicado de su departamento se explica que los detenidos, procedentes del suroeste de Francia, están relacionados con la organización de una célula que enviaba combatientes a Irak.

Los arrestos se han producido después de una larga investigación de los servicios de inteligencia que habían detectado estas redes hace meses. Según parece, la operación comenzó cuando dos franceses fueron expulsados de Siria después de que intentaran penetrar en Irak. Estas dos personas fueron detenidas a su llegada a París el martes procedentes de Damasco.

Estas células encargadas de enviar combatientes a Irak para librar la 'yihad' o guerra santa contra las tropas extranjeras funcionan en Francia desde hace meses y por ahora es imposible saber cuántos jóvenes viajaron ya a aquel país.

COLPISA/AFP |
Viernes, 08:40 h del 16 de Febrero de 2007
Copyright (c) 2004 DIARI DE TARRAGONA Edición Electrónica.
Tarragona España

'El Egipcio' condena los atentados del 11-M y niega cualquier relación con la matanza

El presunto ideólogo de los atentados del 11-M Rabei Osman Sayed, Mohamed el Egipcio, ha negado cualquier tipo de relación con los ataques de Madrid del 2004 y los ha condenado.



Así lo ha afirmado durante su declaración en el macrojuicio del 11-M que ha comenzado hoy en Madrid, a preguntas de su abogado, Endika Zulueta, única parte en el proceso a la que ha accedido a responder, aunque en un principio había dicho que no iba a contestar ni a su defensa.

Las pruebas de ADN

El detenido ha explicado que posee todos los documentos oficiales egipcios, tanto a nivel académico como militar y que estos fueron obtenidos a través de los trámites normales, cosa que, según ha dicho, es imposible en su país si se está acusado de pertenencia a organizaciones islamistas.

El acusado, que también ha negado practicar el islam de forma "extrema", ha destacado que se ha sometido a pruebas de ADN en España y en Italia, donde fue detenido, y ha destacado que hasta ahora no se ha podido demostrar su presencia en alguno de los escenarios de la matanza.

Negativa inicial

Ante la negativa inicial a responder a cualquier pregunta, el tribunal había autorizado la lectura de la declaración que hizo el acusado ante el juez instructor Juan del Olmo. La fiscala Olga Sánchez y muchos de los letrados de las acusaciones también han leído la batería de preguntas que tenían intención de realizarle.

La primera sesión de la vista oral del 11-M ha comenzado a las 10.30 horas en las dependencias de la Audiencia Nacional de la Casa de Campo, en Madrid, en medio de una gran expectación. La sesión ha comenzado con media hora de retraso debido a problemas de identificación en las entradas al pabellón y a incidencias en el traslado de algunos de los acusados desde una de las prisiones.

Se sientan en el banquillo 29 personas, 9 de ellas españolas, acusadas de participar en los ataques que costaron la vida a 191 personas y provocaron 1.840 heridos el 11 de marzo del 2004 en Madrid.

Los acusados, en grupos separados

Los acusados se sientan en dos grupos separados, ya que 18 de ellos (en prisión) han sido situados en un habitáculo blindado, y el resto (en libertad provisional), en asientos frente al tribunal. Los acusados que se encuentran en prisión han llegado fuertemente custodiados en un furgón de la Guardia Civil a las nueve de la mañana.

Además, en la sala se encuentran los 26 abogados encargados de ejercer la defensa, mientras que por parte de la acusación, están presentes 23 letrados, entre los que se incluyen los representantes de las acusaciones populares que ejercen la Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo (AVT), la Asociación 11-M Afectados de Terrorismo y la Asociación de Ayuda a las Víctimas del 11-M.

Las víctimas y los familiares siguen el proceso en una sala especial con un circuito cerrado de televisión, acompañados de psicólogos.

Despliegue policial

Más de 200 agentes y una decena de furgones policiales blindan desde la madrugada el perímetro del pabellón donde se celebra la vista oral. La policía ha establecido un cordón de seguridad que corta al tráfico los accesos del recinto ferial más próximos y un precinto que controla el paso de las personas. Además, un helicóptero sobrevuela el edificio y se ha instalado un hospital de campaña.

Para el seguimiento de la vista oral, hay más de 170 medios acreditados. Alrededor de 140 periodistas se encuentran en el interior del edificio de la Audiencia Nacional, mientras que otros 250 profesionales están ya trabajando en el exterior.

EL PERIÓDICO
MADRID
15/2/2007 17:44 h EN LA CASA DE CAMPO DE MADRID
Jueves 15 feb. 2007
El Periódico de Catalunya
Barcelona España
http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAS&idtipusrecurs_PK=7&idnoticia_PK=380238

Yihad.com

EN noviembre de 2001, la Policía detuvo en el barrio de Cartuja a Zaher Asade, un ciudadano sirio que se había afincado en Granada dos años antes y que se ganaba la vida como carpintero en una empresa de decoración y reformas en domicilios.



'El carpintero del sur', que aparentemente sólo manejaba martillos y remaches, ha sido condenado por la Audiencia Nacional. Mohamed Zaher había sido entrenado en los campos terroristas de Afganistán y, en Granada, 'camuflado' de carpintero, era uno de los enlaces de la red madrileña de 'muyahidines' que trabajaban al servicio de Bin Laden.

Nada hacía entrever tampoco que Mustafá Setmariam, un vendedor ambulante, fuese una de las puntas de la cúpula de Al Qaeda. O que Hassan Al Hussein, un artesano que residía en Alfacar, era un 'muyahidin' y tenía en su casa instrucciones para fabricar bombas. Bajo la piel serena se escondían islamistas radicales.

Nadie podía suponerlo. 'No hay perfiles concretos de terroristas. Se han cruzado datos y no sale nada claro', comenta Javier Jordán, profesor de la Universidad de Granada. 'Pero sí hay elementos comunes en el caso de los europeos conversos que se han radicalizado'.

¿Cómo nace un talibán, un 'yihadista', un loco de Dios? ¿Qué sucede para que un chico normal decida morir matando? 'El compromiso es muy progresivo, no se convierten en terroristas de un día para otro', explica Jordán.

El líder es, en este sentido, una especie de ojeador, siempre a la busca de 'nuevos talentos' a los que adoctrinar. El contacto es el paso inicial en el demencial camino hacia el martirio. 'Primero, la amistad, luego, la ideología', describe las pautas Jordán, experto del Departamento de Ciencia Política de la Universidad de Granada.

La relación se establece de manera inofensiva en lugares de encuentro, como, por ejemplo, mezquitas, locutorios, gimnasios o comercios, o a través de amistades comunes. De esta forma, los conspiradores empiezan a tejer la telaraña.

Poco a poco los lazos se van estrechando. Ha llegado el momento de avanzar. Alguien organiza encuentros en su piso y allí se celebran reuniones que pueden durar toda la tarde, guiadas por un líder. Se dedican a ver vídeos, material 'clandestino' que han sacado de Internet. Discuten y comparten creencias alrededor de unas tazas de té y lejos de miradas y oídos indiscretos. Ese proceso puede prolongarse durante años... hasta que un mal día, los aspirantes a 'yihadistas' deciden pasar a la acción.

La circulación en la Red de material reservado para el adiestramiento es algo habitual. La sentencia de la Audiencia Nacional sobre la célula española de Al Qaeda consideraba probado que 'Mohamed Zaher -detenido en Granada en noviembre de 2001- entregaba a Taysir Alony -periodista también residente en Granada- cintas de vídeo que plasmaban imágenes relativas a la actuación de los 'muyahidines' en Bosnia. Dichas cintas eran recibidas por Zaher Asade de manos de Barakat Yarkas -alias Abu Dahdah-', considerado por la Policía como el jefe de Al Qaeda en España y que viajaba a Granada con cierta asiduidad.

Células independientes

Después de años consumiendo material incendiario, el grupo de amigos -seguramente reducido, porque los que llegan hasta el final son los menos- se ha convertido en una célula terrorista dispuesta a atentar. No es necesario que estén conectados con la fantasmal cúpula de la organización fundada por Bin Laden, ni que reciban instrucciones: 'Pueden actuar de manera independiente. Por ejemplo, el atentado de Londrés se financió con un préstamo que pidió el líder de la cédula', explica Javier Jordán. Fue a un banco y obtuvo un crédito que le permitió cubrir los gastos de un asesinato múltiple. Increíble, pero letal.

La fuerza de Internet

Mustafá Setmariam, el ciudadano hispano-sirio que se instaló en Granada a principios de los noventa, fue el primero que vio en Internet una herramienta clave para favorecer la expansión de Al Qaeda. Hoy, la Red, además de otras muchas cosas, se ha convertido en una fábrica de terroristas.

La ideología extremista se encuentra en lo que se denomina la 'web oculta'. A sus páginas no se puede acceder a través de cualquier buscador: 'Las direcciones son confidenciales y se las pasan entre ellos. Son foros de debate, listas de distribución de correos electrónicos ', relata Jordán.

La maquinaria islamista en Internet se puso en marcha en Irak. La Red servía para aterrorizar al mundo con las imágenes de los degollamientos de extranjeros secuestrados y para encumbrar a misteriosos francotiradores con varios cadáveres de 'marines' en su currículo. Y también para enseñar. Con tantos contenidos a disposición de un 'clic', los jóvenes radicales ya no necesitan salir fuera para adoctrinarse. Antes era imprescindible pasar por los campamentos de Afganistán. 'Son más, pero están menos preparados'.

Todas las fuentes consultadas para la elaboración de estos reportajes han coincidido en señalar que los grupos más radicales asentados en España se encuentran en Cataluña, cobijados en el extrarradio de las grandes ciudades e incluso en zonas rurales.

El 11-S primero, y el 11 de marzo, después, marcaron la evolución del terrorismo. Las Fuerzas de Seguridad del Estado encaran la situación de otra manera. ¿Cómo está el terrorismo islamista pasados tres años desde la horrorosa mañana del 11-M de 2004 en Madrid?: 'Ahora está más descentralizado. Son pequeños grupos. Sin embargo, han sufrido mucho desde el 11-S. Han sufrido las organizaciones como Al Qaeda, pero se ha reforzado la ideología y el aparato propagandístico', concluye el profesor Jordán.

Terra Actualidad - VMT
Terra
Madrid España
http://actualidad.terra.es/provincias/granada/articulo/yihadcom_1393208.htm

Al Qaeda insta a atacar instalaciones petroleras de México, Venezuela y Canadá

La rama saudí de la red terrorista internacional Al Qaeda ha instado a sus seguidores a atacar las instalaciones petroleras de los países que suministran crudo a Estados Unidos, entre los que cita a México, Venezuela y Canadá.



Este llamamiento forma parte de un artículo incluido en la última edición de la revista electrónica 'Sawt al Yihad' (Voz de la Guerra Santa), de la llamada 'organización de Al Qaeda en la Península Arábiga'.

En el artículo, titulado 'Bin Laden y el arma del petróleo' y escrito por el llamado Adeeb al Basam, se anima a los 'muyahidín' (combatientes islámicos) a tomar como blancos de sus ataques las instalaciones petroleras, no sólo en Arabia Saudí, sino en todo el mundo.

Dudas en México y Venezuela

Tanto México como Venezuela ponen en tela de juicio la veracidad de este comunicado, pero se encuentran preparadas para un eventual ataque terrorista.

El Gobierno de México afirmó hoy que desconoce la veracidad de la amenaza lanzada por la red terrorista internacional Al Qaeda contra sus instalaciones petroleras, pero aseguró que su industria de crudo se encuentra "resguardada permanentemente".

Por su parte, el Ministro del Interior venezolano, Pedro Carreño, afirmó que los "órganos de inteligencia están prestos a adelantar todas las investigaciones con la finalidad de garantizar el insumo de los recursos estratégicos".

EFE | ABU DHABI
Jueves, 15 de febrero de 2007
Copyright © ABC Periódico Electrónico S.L.U, Madrid, 2006.
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http://www.abc.es/20070214/internacional-internacional/qaeda-insta-atacar-petroleras_200702142226.html

La declaración de 'El Egipcio' inaugurará el juicio del 11-M mañana

MADRID.- El procesado por conspiración de los atentados del 11-M Rabei Osman el Sayed Ahmed, conocido como 'Mohamed el Egipcio', será el primero en declarar en el juicio que comienza este jueves, según fuentes de la Fiscalía.



'El Egipcio', que fue detenido en Milán el 7 de junio de 2004, está considerado uno de los autores intelectuales de la masacre. Varias conversaciones telefónicas reconociendo su liderazgo lo incriminan.

Así, directamente, sin resolver cuestiones previas, porque no han sido presentadas por las partes, el proceso se sumerge de lleno en el testimonio de los 29 acusados. Si Rabei Osman se niega a declarar, habrá que pasar al siguiente; si acepta, el interrogatorio de todas las partes puede durar hasta varios días.

El orden normal de comparecencias comienza por los acusados; después, los testigos y los peritos; y finalmente se presentan las pruebas periciales. Aunque el juicio comienza en jueves y seguirá el viernes por la mañana, las sesiones se celebrarán de lunes a miércoles por la mañana (de 10 a 14 horas) y por la tarde (de 16 a 18 horas).

A Rabeo Osman le seguirán en el estrado otros dos presuntos inductores, Youssef Belhadj y Hassan el Haski. A continuación, los considerados autores materiales de la masacre, Jamal Zougam y Abdelmajid Bouchar. Después, los acusados de colaborar con éstos y, por último, los miembros de la llamada "trama asturiana" de los explosivos, encabezada por Emilio Suárez Trashorras.

Las conversaciones telefónicas de El Egipcio

'El Egipcio' se fue de España pocos días antes de la masacre. Convivió un año en Madrid con Serhane ben Abdelmajid Faket, 'El Tunecino', presunto cerebro ideológico de los atentados y uno de los siete terroristas que se suicidaron en Leganés. Fue en su día oficial del Ejército egipcio y experto en explosivos.

Basándose en las conversaciones grabadas por la policía italiana, la acusación del fiscal afirma que "con el objetivo de ultimar los detalles relativos al atentado terrorista que habían previsto cometer, el procesado Rabei Osman se desplazó a España y mantuvo reuniones con los miembros de la célula terrorista durante los últimos días del mes de enero de 2004". [ver acusación del fiscal (PDF) págs 61-67]

Rabei, dice la fiscal, es "un individuo muy radical que aglutinaba en torno a sí a personas que se estaban preparando para hacer la Yihad en cualquier parte del mundo".

Su teléfono móvil no registró ninguna actividad entre el 8 y el 13 de marzo de 2004. El 12 de abril se intercepta una conversación en la que alude, según el escrito del fiscal, a sus "hermanos de España, muertos en los atentados suicidas", con referencia expresa a los "hermanos Serhane y Fouad", identificados como 'El Tunecino' y Fouad el Morabit.

El 26 de mayo de 2004 dijo a su interlocutor telefónico: "El hilo de la operación de Madrid fue mío, ¿entiendes? Los trenes..."

El tribunal

El tribunal que juzgará el 11-M está compuesto por el presidente de la Sala de lo Penal, Javier Gómez Bermúdez -que será el ponente de la sentencia- y los presidentes de las secciones segunda y tercera de la Sala, Fernando García Nicolás y Alfonso Guevara, respectivamente.

Para el juicio han sido designados dos fiscales, Olga Sánchez -asignada al caso durante su instrucción- y Carlos Bautista, quienes en las primeras sesiones estarán acompañados por el fiscal jefe de la Audiencia Nacional, Javier Zaragoza, y el teniente fiscal, Jesús Santos.

En representación del Estado asistirán dos abogados, por parte de las acusaciones particulares 23 letrados y 26 serán las defensas de los acusados.

Entre las acusaciones personadas están la Asociación 11-M Afectados por el Terrorismo, la Asociación de Ayuda a las Víctimas del 11-M y la Asociación de Víctimas del Terrorismo (AVT).

Actualizado miércoles 14/02/2007 15:16 (CET)
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Los agentes investigaron en Guantánamo la pista del fundador de Al Qaeda en España

Los interrogadores preguntaron a los detenidos en la base de EE UU por Mustafa Setmarian



La pista de Mustafa Setmarian, de 48 años, el sirio nacionalizado español que fundó en España la primera célula de Al Qaeda y llegó hasta la cúpula de esta organización en Afganistán, fue uno de los objetivos de la delegación policial que visitó la base estadounidense en Guantánamo, en territorio cubano, del 22 al 25 de julio de 2002. Allí entrevistaron a Abdulrahim Abdelrazak Yanko, Abu Dujana, preso sirio número 489 del campo Delta, "por si podía aportar alguna información sobre los detenidos en España, en especial los de origen sirio", según un informe oficial de la Unidad Central de Información Exterior de la Policía que describe los principales interrogatorios.

El preso les confesó que había sido acusado de espía por los talibanes e interrogado por el propio Setmarian en Kabul.

Setmarian fue detenido en Pakistán en octubre de 2005 y entregado a agentes de la CIA que le trasladaron a una prisión secreta, según fuentes paquistaníes. Desde entonces, su paradero, al igual que el de otros detenidos en ese país, es un misterio.

Yanko, de origen kurdo, relató a los policías españoles que tenía problemas con su padre por lo que se fue a vivir a Emiratos Árabes, donde conoció en la universidad a un afgano que trabajaba para la embajada talibán en ese país. Con su ayuda viajó a Afganistán, primero a Peshawar y después a Jalalabad. Allí los talibanes le dijeron que si no se iba con ellos tendría que salir del país, por lo que optó por quedarse y acudir a un campo de entrenamiento terrorista. Cuando llegó a Kabul le trasladaron a una casa de unos árabes, propiedad, dijeron, de Bin Laden.

Tras cinco días de estancia fue enviado al campo de entrenamiento terrorista de Faruk, donde, según su relato, permaneció varias semanas, ya que los propios talibanes le detuvieron y acusaron de ser espía de los norteamericanos.

Formación terrorista

Yanko detalló a la policía en qué consistía la formación terrorista. El primer curso duraba 45 días, se centraba en el aprendizaje del manejo de las armas ligeras, en especial el Kaláshnikov, cómo hacer una guardia y ser un francotirador; el segundo, de tres meses, era de adiestramiento en la lucha en las montañas y emboscadas; el tercero, "una guardia para Al Qaeda", consistía en la protección de personalidades de la organización y vigilancia de edificios.

Según el relato del preso, una vez terminado el tercer curso, el recluta podía ser enviado a Chechenia u otras zonas de conflicto. "Entonces ya eres un miembro de Al Qaeda y nadie puede sospechar de ti ni de tu lealtad a la causa", declaró Yanko a los agentes, encabezados por el entonces inspector Rafael Gómez Menor, el hombre que dirigió las primeras investigaciones sobre la célula de Abu Dahdah, jefe Al Qaeda en España.

Yanko no tuvo tiempo de terminar su formación porque los talibanes le acusaron de espía cuando terminaba el tercer curso. "Fue devuelto a la casa de los árabes en Kabul de donde procedía, pero antes de llegar pasó por las manos de Abu Musab Al Suri (Mustafa Setmarian)", el fundador de la primera célula de Al Qaeda en España, señala el informe policial.

El recluta relató el interrogatorio al que fue sometido en una zona industrial de Kabul, por un tipo que tenía el pelo rojo y era natural de Alepo (Siria), datos que coinciden con Mustafa Setmarian. "Quería que identificara a otros posibles espías americanos", dijo el preso de Guantánamo. Según Yanko, Setmarian era una persona "muy respetada" y los que vivían en la casa de árabes le pagaban para que les entrenara con explosivos. Entrenaba a los muyahidin que venían de Europa.

El preso en Guantánamo facilitó un cuadro de los principales dirigentes de Al Qaeda, entre los que colocó en tercer lugar a Setmarian, cuya mujer es española. La policía también consiguió información de otros dos detenidos en Guantánamo.

Uno de ellos es Hamed Abderramán Ahmed, Hmido, ceutí de 34 años, detenido por las tropas de EE UU en Pakistán, preso en Guantánamo y extraditado a España donde fue juzgado y absuelto. Viajó a Afganistán por la influencia que ejerció en él un tal Abu Naiz, al que había conocido en la mezquita Sidi en Barek en Ceuta, según explicó.

El talibán ceutí viajó a Afganistán en agosto de 2001. El nombre de Abu Mundir fue un salvoconducto con el que llegó hasta Kandahar donde fue conducido hasta un campamento de entrenamiento donde se formaban 15 jóvenes, la mayor parte marroquíes y argelinos. Recibieron entrenamiento básico, 10 disparos diarios, "con Kaláshnikov y pistolas, nunca con granadas ni explosivos".

Los policías mostraron también a Hamed fotografías de miembros de la célula de Abu Dahdah. En el juicio celebrado en la Audiencia Nacional, Hamed negó todos los extremos de su declaración que la policía aportó al tribunal como prueba. El tribunal la invalidó por haber sido obtenida en Guantánamo sin ninguna garantía judicial.

Un taxi y un Kaláshnikov

Lahcen Ikassrien, de 39 años, natural de Marruecos y residente en España, relató que se marchó a Afganistán porque tenía problemas con su mujer y para "huir de los servicios secretos marroquíes" que le habían pedido colaboración cuando trabajaba en El Ejido (Almería). De su estancia en Afganistán facilitó pocos detalles salvó que se compró un taxi y un Kaláshnikov "para su propia seguridad".

La policía comunicó a Lachen "que estaban autorizados por la autoridad judicial" para proponerle que se acogiera a la figura de testigo protegido si daba información sobre Abu Dahdah, cuyo juicio todavía no se había celebrado. Incluso le dijeron que si aceptaba, el juez "le tomaría declaración en el lugar donde se encontraba" para después ser reclamado a EE UU. El preso contestó que sólo colaboraría si le conducían a España. Ikassrien fue extraditado y juzgado en España. La Audiencia le absolvió y anularon las pruebas obtenidas por la policía durante el interrogatorio en Guantánamo.

JOSÉ MARÍA IRUJO - Madrid - 14/02/2007
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Cataluña, Levante y Murcia son las zonas de mayor influencia del Grupo Salafista por la Predicación y el Combate que se acaba de unir a Al Qaeda

El reciente anuncio de los terroristas del Grupo Salafista de Predicación y Combate sobre su anexión a la obediencia de Al Qaeda preocupa a los expertos en terrorismo de origen yihadista. Ya existen claras zonas de influencia de sus actividades en nuestro país.



Informaciones recogidas por El Confidencial Digital entre expertos en redes terroristas de origen yihadista que operan en España, confirman que la reciente anexión del argelino Grupo Salafista de Predicación y Combate, más conocido como GSPC, a la disciplina de Al Qaeda es un dato a tener muy en cuenta por las Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad del Estado.

Las fuentes consultadas por ECD sostienen que si bien –en un primer momento- podría considerarse este gesto “como un síntoma de debilidad”, no se puede descartar que la conexión sea fruto de un interés más pragmático. Esto es, que esta simbiosis no surja de la afinidad ideológica y cultural (que existe realmente) sino de la búsqueda de resultados operativos por parte del GSPC, el principal grupo terrorista del Norte de África, muy castigado por la presión policial en Europa.

Los expertos temen ahora, además, que esta adhesión pueda convertirse en una tendencia generalizada, que sean imitados por otros movimientos terroristas como el Grupo Islámico Combatiente Marroquí (GICM) y algunos otros de menor entidad, que actualmente presentan una baja actividad y podrían recobrar fuerza.

Pese a tener la mayor parte de su estructura desplegada en Francia, el GSPC ha propiciado varias detenciones en nuestro país. Algunos de los miembros detenidos en España procedían del casi extinto GIA argelino.

En el comunicado del pasado enero en que anunciaban su integración en la red terrorista de Osama Bin Laden, los miembros del GSPC amenazaban en primer lugar a Francia, país que por razones históricas ha sido el que más apoyado al gobierno argelino frente a la insurgencia terrorista. En segundo lugar amenazaban a los Estados Unidos, y en último lugar a la OTAN, la vía por la que España puede entrar dentro de sus objetivos.

Actualmente las zonas de nuestro país que- según los expertos- pueden albergar un mayor número de miembros y simpatizantes del GSPC son Cataluña, Levante y Murcia. También se señalan otras con menor seguridad, donde ha habido detenciones o donde se dan algunas de las condiciones preferidas por estos individuos.

Los factores de conveniencia barajados por los terroristas de origen yihadista para asentarse en estos enclaves son los siguientes: la abundancia de trabajo y población inmigrante agrupada; la vida en entornos rurales, que facilita la ocultación y dificulta el seguimiento de sus actividades a la Fuerzas de Seguridad; las facilidades para el paso a Francia e Italia de cara a la comunicación con núcleos principales del grupo.

Miércoles, 14 de Febrero de 2007
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Un grupo vinculado a Al Qaeda se atribuye los atentados que han causado seis muertos en Argelia

Argel. (EFE).- Un grupo radical argelino vinculado con la red terrorista Al Qaeda se atribuyó la autoría de los atentados perpetrados en la Cabilia, que causaron la muerte de seis personas y heridas a más de diez, según la televisión qatarí Al Yazira.



Esa emisora afirmó que la rama de Al Qaeda en Argelia asumió la autoría de los atentados en una llamada telefónica a la oficina de Al Yazira en Rabat.

El Ministerio del Interior informó en una nota de que fueron siete los atentados, la mayor parte de ellos con coche-bomba, que al parecer fueron perpetrados de manera sincronizada, ya que tuvieron lugar a las 4 de la mañana (03.00 GMT).

El objetivo que perseguían los terroristas era golpear a comisarías de policía y sedes de las brigadas de gendarmes, tal y como han hecho en otras ocasiones, aunque no con la misma magnitud que hoy.

La provincia de Bumerdés, al este de Argel, fue la más golpeada al contabilizarse cuatro atentados en las aldeas de Si Mustafá y Suk El Had, así como en la propia localidad de Bumerdés.

Cuatro personas que se hallaban a bordo de un automóvil, circulando por el lugar donde ocurrió una de las explosiones, murieron en el acto en esa provincia, en tanto que siete agentes del orden y dos civiles resultaron heridos, algunos de ellos de gravedad.

En Tizi-Uzu, capital de la Gran Cabilia, tuvieron lugar tres atentados similares en las localidades de Dra Ben Kheda, Mekla e Illula Umalu, con un balance de dos muertos y cuatro heridos. Además de las pérdidas humanas, las explosiones causaron importantes daños materiales en las estructuras de las sedes de los servicios de seguridad y en varios inmuebles adyacentes.

"Lo que ha ocurrido esta madrugada me parece terrible, ya que las explosiones se oyeron en un radio de varios kilómetros. Algunos de los habitantes saltaron de sus camas y se echaron a la calle presas de pánico", dijo a Efe un joven llamado Mohend, habitantes de Dra Ben Kheda.

En la aldea de Si Mustafá, los testigos indicaron que varias paredes de la comisaría se derrumbaron estrepitosamente y hubo que emplear mangas de riego para borrar las huellas de la sangre vertida.

Todos los servicios de seguridad acordonaron rápidamente las zonas de los atentados, lo que causó grandes embotellamientos en los puntos de acceso a las aldeas y localidades donde éstos ocurrieron.

El grupo salafista ha dejado sentir su voz una vez más y la estrategia que parece haber adoptado ahora es el uso de coches-bombas, una pequeña copia del drama que ocurre a diario en Iraq.

En octubre pasado, el GSP, que ahora se denomina "Al Qaeda en el Magreb", atentó de la misma forma contra las comisarías de Dergana y Reghaia, en la periferia de la capital argelina. Uno de los atentados ocurrido entonces lo fue empleando un camión parcialmente cargado de dinamita, cuya detonación causó tres muertos y varios heridos.

En diciembre, la misma banda terrorista atacó cerca de Argel a un minibús del personal de la empresa norteamericana Root Condor, matando al chófer argelino y a un trabajador libanés.

Los salafistas han reiterado en varias ocasiones que no se van a rendir para acogerse a la oferta de amnistía del poder político en Argel y que, en lugar de ello, redoblarán de esfuerzos para continuar con su "Yihad" o guerra santa islámica.

13/02/2007 | Actualizada a las 11:47h
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Señalan que Al Qaeda podría estar detrás de explosiones en Japón

Fuentes de inteligencia paquistaníes consultadas por una televisora señalaron que existe presencia en Japón de personas originarias de Pakistán y de Indonesia al servicio de Al Qaeda desde 1999 con el propósito de preparar atentados.



Washington.- Las explosiones registradas hoy en las cercanías de una base militar estadunidense en Japón podrían haber sido perpetradas por personajes ligados a la red Al Qaeda, reportó hoy el canal noticioso ABC News.

Fuentes de inteligencia paquistaníes consultadas por la cadena televisiva señalaron que existe presencia en Japón de personas originarias de Pakistán y de Indonesia al servicio de Al Qaeda desde 1999 con el propósito de preparar atentados.

“Si las explosiones (de este lunes en la base) resultan haber sido un ataque terrorista, esa red (de paquistaníes e indonesios ligados a Al Qaeda) es el primer lugar en el que se debe buscar”, aseguró una de las fuentes, cuya identidad fue mantenida sin revelar.

En la noche de este lunes, se registraron al menos dos explosiones en la base militar estadunidense de Zama, en la prefectura de Kanagawa, a unos 40 kilómetros al sur de la capitalina ciudad de Tokio, sin que provocaran daños de gravedad o heridos.

La célula en Japón de Al Qaeda fue establecida por órdenes de Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, un líder de la red terrorista que se encuentra bajo custodia de Estados Unidos en la Bahía de Guantánamo, Cuba.

El grupo se ha nutrido por docenas de paquistaníes que han sido enviados a Japón con visas de estudiantes desde finales de la década de 1990 y por individuos ligados a la organización Jemah Islamiya, de Indonesia, con el objetivo de establecer una “célula dormida”.

Entre los planes fraguados por la “célula dormida” estuvo un operativo para colocar bombas alrededor de los estadios de fútbol usados en la Copa del Mundo en 2002, sin embargo no se llevó a cabo.

Las personas consultadas por ABC News, entre las que también estarían fuentes japonesas, estimaron que la “célula dormida” aún está activa planeando operaciones en contra de intereses de Estados Unidos y de otros países occidentales en Japón.

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http://www.milenio.com/index.php/2007/02/12/40537/

Posible reacción de Al-Qaeda

El juicio del 11-M, que comienza el jueves y se extenderá hasta junio o julio, podría provocar una «reacción airada» por parte de Al-Qaeda.



Así lo advertía ayer el fiscal jefe de la Audiencia Nacional, Javier Zaragoza, que sostiene que el riesgo de que se produzca un nuevo atentado irá en aumento a lo largo de los próximos meses.

/ COLPISA
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Dos atentados causan la muerte de casi 80 civiles en Bagdad

• Un tribunal iraquí condena a muerte al vicepresidente de Sadam Husein

• El Gobierno de Merkel confirma que dos alemanes están desaparecidos en Irak



Nada detiene a los terroristas en Irak cuando se trata de matar a civiles. Cuatro explosiones sembraron de cadáveres ayer el centro de Bagdad. El atentado más mortífero tuvo lugar en el mercado de Chorja, uno de los más antiguos de la capital, y acabó con la vida de al menos 71 civiles y dejó heridos a más de 160. En el mercado de Bab al Sharqi, otra bomba mató a cinco personas más.

El brutal atentado en Chorja se registró poco después del mediodía. Al parecer estallaron hasta tres coches bomba casi de forma simultánea en un centro comercial de dos plantas, que fue pasto de las llamas. Algunos testigos afirmaron que las detonaciones se registraron en el parking subterráneo del edificio, aunque fuentes del Gobierno dijeron que dos de los vehículos estaban estacionados en el exterior. En Bab al Sharqi, el artefacto explosivo estaba escondido en una bolsa de plástico.

UN AÑO DE SAMARRA

Los atentados se registraron justo cuando se guardaba unos minutos de silencio en memoria de las decenas de miles de personas que han perdido la vida en la guerra que libran extremistas sunís y chiís. El Gobierno deseaba así conmemorar el primer aniversario, según el calendario musulmán, de la voladura de la Cúpula dorada de la mezquita de Samarra, que desató la lucha confesional. Para el calendario gregoriano, el año se cumplirá el próximo 22 de febrero.

El Ejecutivo iraquí está decidido a frenar la escalada de violencia que sacude la capital con la anunciada operación militar que rastreará cada barrio de Bagdad, y en la que participarán unos 80.000 hombres, de ellos más de 30.000 estadounidenses. "La misión de seguridad se irá fortaleciendo poco a poco", advirtió la oficina del primer ministro, el chií Nuri al Maliki.

CONDENA A LA HORCA

Poco después de los ataques en la capital, el Alto Tribunal Penal iraquí condenó a morir en la horca al exvicepresidente iraquí, Taha Yasin Ramadan, acusado de crímenes contra la humanidad. Ramadan fue sentenciado a cadena perpetua el pasado mes de noviembre por el caso Duyail, el asesinato en 1982 de 148 civiles chiís.

El tribunal de Apelación, sin embargo, tras estudiar el caso, consideró que merecía la pena capital, como Sadam Husein, que fue ejecutado en diciembre, y Barzan Ibrahim y Awad Hamed al Bandar, en enero. "Juro por Dios que soy inocente", gritó Ramadán tras escuchar la sentencia.

Por otro lado, el ministro de Exteriores alemán, Frank Walter Steinmeier, confirmó la desaparición de dos ciudadanos alemanes en Irak, y no descartó que se tratase de un secuestro. No se sabe de ellos desde el 6 de febrero. Berlín, que no ha revelado el nombre de los desaparecidos, ha creado un comité de crisis.

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El Gobierno de Irak anuncia el cierre de las fronteras con Siria e Irán "por motivos de seguridad"

El Gobierno iraquí ha anunciado el cierre de las fronteras con Irán y Siria "por motivos de seguridad", por un plazo de al menos 72 horas. "Tras estos tres días, algunos de los pasos fronterizos serán reabiertos", ha señalado el primer ministro iraquí, Nuri al Maliki, en un comunicado leído en la televisión estatal Al Iraqiya.



El encargado de leer el texto ha sido el teniente general Abud Gambar, nombrado responsable de la región de Bagdad, según el nuevo plan de seguridad para la capital. Gambar ha añadido que el toque de queda en Bagdad, de las 8 de la tarde a las 6 de la mañana, se mantendrá en vigor durante un período todavía indeterminado.

En la actualidad, ya está vigente en la capital un toque de queda de las 9 de la noche a las 5 de la mañana, por lo que la nueva medida amplía en dos horas el plazo. El general también ha informado de que se impondrán otras medidas de seguridad excepcionales, como interrogatorios o registros en hogares, mezquitas y lugares de culto sin orden judicial.

Nuevo plan de seguridad

Asimismo, se aplicará la ley antiterrorista a todo aquel que sea sorprendido con armas o cualquier tipo de material explosivo , que será presentado de inmediato ante el Tribunal Penal Supremo.

Las nuevas medidas se enmarcan dentro del plan de seguridad que Al Maliki ha anunciado que entrará en vigor esta semana y en el que participarán 85.000 soldados y policías iraquís y estadounidenses.

Para la aplicación del plan, las autoridades iraquís han dividido Bagdad en 10 zonas que serán administradas por un general del Ejército con la potestad de adoptar las medidas que considere convenientes para imponer el orden y la seguridad.

Siguen los atentados

En este sentido, otras 18 personas han muerto y 38 han quedado heridas en un atentado con furgoneta bomba en el aparcamiento de la facultad de Economía de la Universidad de Bagdad, al oeste de la capital.

Además, al menos ocho personas han muerto y otras 16 están heridas en dos ataques diferentes en Bagdad y en Naharauan (30 kilómetros al sureste de Bagdad), según fuentes del Ministerio del Interior.

Al menos 77 personas perdieron la vida y numerosas resultaron heridas ayer como consecuencia de varios atentados en mercados de Bagdad.

AGENCIAS
BAGDAD
13/2/2007 18:08 h DURANTE 72 HORAS
Martes 13 feb. 2007
El Periódico de Catalunya
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Así se gestaron los atentados de Madrid

La detención de la célula española de Al Qaida, la llamada a la «guerra santa» de Ben Laden y la presencia española en Irak, los detonantes - En octubre de 2003 se eligió la fecha del ataque



Madrid- La detención, en noviembre de 2001, del líder de la célula española de Al Qaida, «Abu Dahdah»; el mensaje televisado de Osama Ben Laden en octubre de 2003, en el que situó a España en la diana de la «Yihad» y la presencia española en la guerra de Irak fueron el «caldo de cultivo» del 11-M.

En esos doce meses se gestó el mayor atentado cometido nunca en suelo europeo. No obstante, la implantación en España de los primeros núcleos de islamistas radicales se remonta a 1996. Sus integrantes, según la fiscal Olga Sánchez, «propugnaban la imposición, al resto de la población, de los principios fundamentales de la religión musulmana, en la acepción más radical de la ley islámica».

Además de la inevitable labor de adoctrinamiento, estos islamistas se dedicaban ya a finales de los 90 a reclutar a personas que nutrieran los campos de entrenamiento de Al Qaida, donde recibirían adiestramiento en técnicas terroristas.

Pero la idea de atentar en nuestro país no empezó a fraguarse hasta que se produjo el primer gran golpe policial contra estos extremistas. Según las conclusiones del juez Juan del Olmo y de la fiscal Olga Sánchez, la detención del sirio nacionalizado español Imad Eddine Barakat Yarkas «Abu Dahdah» se convirtió en el otoño de 2001 en el detonante.

«Abu Dahdah», como algunos de los detenidos en la «operación Dátil», formaban parte de los Hermanos Musulmanes, un movimiento radical islamista que había sido purgado con contundencia en Siria, lo que provocó el éxodo de un buen número de sus integrantes.

Según el relato de la fiscal, adoctrinados por «Abu Dahdah», otros «hermanos musulmanes» (entre ellos Sarhane «El tunecino», uno de los suicidas de Leganés, y Mustafa Maynouni, condenado por los atentados de Casablanca de mayo de 2003) «comenzaron a mantener reuniones con el objeto de determinar los atentados a cometer en suelo español y a captar para sus fines a personas cercanas a los grupos salafistas marroquíes».

«Dosis de sufrimiento»

El 18 de octubre de 2003, el mensaje televisivo de Ben Laden, emitido por la cadena qatarí Al Yazira, en el que el líder de Al Qaida señaló a España entre el grupo de países occidentales objetivo del terrorismo islamista, «se puso en marcha la actividad de planificación y ejecución del atentado».

Ese sustrato ideológico vino también acompañado de las arengas islamistas propaladas a través de la web radical Global Islamic Media, donde se señalaban posibles objetivos terroristas. Tras el atentado contra siete agentes del CNI en Irak, los responsables de esta web ya advertían, el 8 de diciembre de 2003, de que «los batallones de la resistencia iraquí, y quienes les apoyan fuera de Irak, son capaces de aumentar las dosis de sufrimiento en Irak y fuera de él».

A lo largo de ese mismo año, siguiendo las directrices de Al Qaida, varios de los procesados -Rabei Osman «Mohamed el Egipcio»; Hassan el Haski, uno de los presuntos ideólogos, y Joussef Belhadj- junto a «El tunecino», en respuesta a las detenciones de miembros de la comunidad musulmana y a la posición del Gobierno español en Irak «comenzaron a planear la forma de poder cometer atentados en suelo español con la intención de que tuviera gran repercusión internacional».

En octubre de 2003, Belhadj hizo saber al grupo de Madrid la fecha elegida para la comisión del atentado. Señalada ésta, se acordó que «El chino» se encargaría de conseguir los explosivos para causar «el mayor daño posible».

Aunque se desconoce de quién partió la elección de la fecha, el juez Del Olmo mantiene que ésta tuvo «profundas implicaciones estratégicas» ya que los terroristas buscaban «un gran acontecimiento» (la proximidad de las elecciones generales) que amplificase los efectos de la acción criminal y sirviese para «conseguir los efectos deseados»: forzar la retirada de las tropas de Irak y conseguir un cambio de gobierno.

No en balde, meses antes de los comicios la web Global Islamic Media aleccionaba sobre los efectos del atentado en ciernes: «Si sus tropas permanecen tras estos golpes, la victoria del Partido Socialista está prácticamente garantizada, y la retirada de las tropas españolas estará en la lista de su proyecto electoral».

Los cabos se iban entrelazando y en febrero de 2004, un mes antes de los atentados, Belhadj viajó a España (al igual que había hecho poco antes Rabei Osman «Mohamed El egipcio») para reunirse con los integrantes de la célula e impartir las últimas instrucciones. Los terroristas se habían hecho ya con los exposivos. La cuenta atrás para el atentado había comenzado.

Ricardo Coarasa
Nº 53 | Martes, 13 de febrero de 2007
Copyright 2005, La Razón
Madrid España
http://www.larazon.es/noticias/noti_nac18142.htm

El terrorismo iraquí recibe el nuevo plan de seguridad con casi 100 muertos

Los autores atacan los principales mercados de Bagdad en plena hora punta de compras



El Cairo- Más de 120 muertos según la cadena árabe Al Jazeera, cerca de 80 según la agencia Reuters, y un total de 66, según fuentes del Ministerio de Interior iraquí. Qué importa ya el número exacto de personas que mueren cada día en el infierno de Bagdad. Cuatro atentados, dos de ellos con coche bomba, en el centro de la capital iraquí, dejaron ayer una alta cifra de muertos y más de 160 heridos.

Esta cadena de ataques mortíferos, que ensombrecieron el cielo con nubes de humo negro, fue la respuesta de la insurgencia iraquí al primer ministro, Nuri al Maliki, quien anunció ayer que el esperado plan de seguridad para Bagdad comenzará a ser operativo esta semana. La nueva estrategia para terminar con la violencia que sacude la capital contará con la participación de 85.000 soldados y policías iraquíes, que serán apoyados por tropas de EE UU.

Para su aplicación, las autoridades locales han dividido Bagdad en diez zonas que serán administradas por un general que tendrá la potestad de adoptar las medidas convenientes para imponer el orden y la seguridad.

Macabro aniversario

Las explosiones que sacudieron ayer el centro de la capital se produjeron el día en que los iraquíes recordaban el primer aniversario del ataque contra el principal templo chií en Samarra. El peor de los atentados, provocado por dos bombas de forma casi simultánea, tuvo lugar en el mercado de Shorja, uno de los principales zocos de la zona, en la calle Al Yumhuriya. Más de cuarenta personas perdieron la vida en este ataque.

Los coches bomba incendiaron un edificio que alberga tiendas textiles, así como otros negocios en la calle y más de una docena de automóviles. Unas treinta ambulancias se desplazaron al lugar del ataque para socorrer a decenas de personas que resultaron heridas al ser alcanzadas por las llamas o al quedar atrapadas bajo los edificios desplomados.

Varios minutos después, otro vehículo hizo explosión en la zona de Al Rusafa, especializada en la venta de zapatos y ropa deportiva, el otro gran bazar de la ciudad.

El atentado dejó al menos cinco muertos y más de treinta heridos. Otro ataque fue perpetrado con un artefacto en el mercado popular de Al Haray, en la zona de Bab al Sharqi, también en el centro de la ciudad, sobre las 12.00 hora local. En un cuarto incidente, otras dos personas perecieron y tres fueron heridas por la explosión de una bomba en el barrio Al Qahira. El mes pasado, más de 80 personas fallecieron en este barrio en otro doble atentado llevado a cabo con coches bomba.

El 3 de febrero, un total de 131 iraquíes perdieron la vida y varias decenas resultaron heridos por la explosión de otro coche trampa en el barrio chií de Sidriya, lo que se convirtió en uno de los más sangrientos atentados desde la invasión y ocupación del país en marzo de 2003.

Ante la violencia «ciega» desatada en el aniversario del bombardeo del santuario de Samarra, el máximo clérigo chií de Irak, el ayatolá Ali al Sistani, instó a sus seguidores a no buscar revancha contra los suníes, a quienes se les ha adjudicado la autoría de los atentados.

Ethel Bonet
Nº 53 | Martes, 13 de febrero de 2007
Copyright 2005, La Razón
Madrid España
http://www.larazon.es/noticias/noti_int18067.htm

Cerca de 80 muertos y 165 heridos en varios atentados en el centro de Bagdad

* El peor ataque se produjo en uno de los principales mercados de la zona

* Un edificio que alberga tiendas de ropa se incendió por las explosiones

* Varias columnas de humo ensombrecieron el cielo de Bagdad durante toda la mañana



BAGDAD.- Al menos 79 personas han muerto y 165 han resultado heridas como consecuencia de varias explosiones en el centro de Bagdad, el día en que los iraquíes recordaban el primer aniversario, según el calendario islámico, del ataque contra el principal templo chií en Samarra.

El atentado más mortífero, provocado por dos bombas de forma casi simultánea, se produjo en el mercado de Shorja, uno de los principales zocos de la zona, en la calle Al Yumhuriya. Un cámara de Reuters vio personas en llamas y más de 30 ambulancias llegando al lugar del atentado.

Según fuentes del Ministerio del Interior, los estallidos fueron provocados por un coche bomba y un explosivo. Tres sospechosos han sido detenidos hasta el momento.

Los coches bomba incendiaron un edificio que alberga tiendas de ropa, así como otros negocios en la calle y más de una docena de automóviles, según otro reportero de Reuters. Varios testigos aseguraron que habían visto dos columnas de humo negro provenientes del centro de la capital y agregaron que la explosión había sido ensordecedora.

Satar Hashim, que se encontraba cerca del lugar de los hechos, explicó que un edificio de varias plantas se había desplomado tras el estallido. Hashim, que calificó de "catástrofe" lo sucedido, dijo que se había "salvado de milagro", ya que había pasado por donde tuvo lugar el atentado poco antes.

Varios minutos después, otro vehículo hizo explosión en la zona de Al Rusafa, especializada en la venta de zapatos y ropa deportiva. Otro ataque fue perpetrado con un artefacto en el mercado popular de Al Haray, en la zona de Bab al Sharqi, también en el centro de la ciudad, sobre las 12.00, hora local.

En un cuarto incidente, otras dos personas perecieron y tres fueron heridas por la explosión de una bomba en el barrio Al Qahira. El mes pasado, más de 80 personas fallecieron en este barrio en otro doble atentado llevado a cabo con coches bomba. El 3 de febrero otras 131 personas perdieron la vida y varias decenas resultaron heridas por la explosión de otro coche trampa en el barrio chií de Sidriya, lo que se convirtió en uno de los más sangrientos atentados desde la invasión y ocupación del país en marzo de 2003.

Estos nuevos ataques han tenido lugar un día después de que el primer ministro iraquí, Nuri al Maliki, anunciara que el esperado plan de seguridad para Bagdad comenzará a ser operativo esta semana. Maliki aseguró que el plan "incluirá tanto las áreas chiíes como las suníes, con el objetivo de limpiar la ciudad de terroristas, confiscando armas y haciendo posible el regreso de las personas que se han visto obligadas a abandonar sus casas".
Llamamiento a la moderación

El máximo clérigo chií de Irak, el ayatolá Ali al Sistani, instó a sus seguidores a no buscar revancha contra los suníes en el aniversario del bombardeo de un santuario en Samarra. Al Sistani dijo que los ataques, adjudicados a los suníes, habían llevado a Irak a un ciclo de "violencia ciega".

Decenas de miles de iraquíes murieron en una ola de ataques sectarios desatados por la destrucción de la mezquita y cientos de miles huyeron. "Llamamos a los creyentes mientras recuerdan este suceso triste y expresan sus sentimientos [...] a ejercer los máximos niveles de moderación y no hacer ni decir nada que pudiera dañar a nuestros hermanos suníes que son inocentes por lo que sucedió y que no lo aceptan", dijo Al Sistani en un comunicado.

Al Sistani, quien vive en la ciudad sagrada de Najaf, es visto como una voz moderada, dirige el sistema religioso chií o Marjaiya y ha instado a los chiíes a no involucrarse en el conflicto sectario.

Actualizado lunes 12/02/2007 17:10 (CET)
AGENCIAS
© Mundinteractivos, S.A.
El Mundo
Madrid España
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/02/12/internacional/1171276917.html?a=9226ef1866a7f79b7121e16dc29be1b4&t=1171300894

EEUU relaciona a Irán con la bomba más letal usada en Irak

• Washington advierte a Teherán de que deje de ayudar a los insurgentes

• El nuevo general estadounidense en Bagdad afirma que la misión aún "es viable"



La relación entre Estados Unidos e Irán es como una capa de hielo que amenaza con romperse bajo cualquier paso en falso, y las últimas acusaciones de Washington a Teherán sin duda contribuyen a resquebrajar el fino y gélido vínculo.

Los servicios de espionaje estadounidenses y el secretario de Defensa de EEUU, Robert Gates, aseguran que Irán está fabricando la bomba más letal que las milicias chiís están usando contra sus soldados en Irak y aunque no se han ofrecido pruebas, las acusaciones son un paso más en una peligrosa escalada de tensión bilateral.

El artefacto es conocido como "penetrador" y es un cilindro de metal lleno de explosivos que hizo su aparición en Irak en el 2003. Los atentados con esas bombas --que se disparan desde los lados de la carretera a través de sensores que detectan el paso de los vehículos militares-- se han doblado en el último año y son los responsables del mayor número de muertos en las filas de EEUU.

ANÁLISIS DEL EXPLOSIVO

Fuentes del espionaje han asegurado a The New York Times que, gracias al análisis de los explosivos y a información sobre el entrenamiento de chiís en la región, pueden vincular las bombas con Teherán. Gates aseguró que los números de serie y otras marcas permiten señalar a Irán.

Según fuentes de la Administración, EEUU ha usado a la embajada de Suiza en esa capital para advertir en privado al Gobierno iraní de que detenga sus ayudas a la insurgencia en Irak. Mientras, el embajador de Irán ante las Naciones Unidas, Javad Zarif, ha acusado en un artículo de opinión a la Administración de George Bush de "intentar hacer de Irán su cabeza de turco e inventar pruebas de actividades de Irán en Irak".

"OBJETIVO ALCANZABLE"

Mientras, el nuevo comandante del Ejército de Estados Unidos en Irak, el general David Petraeus, afirmó ayer, al tomar posesión de su cargo, que la situación del país es "extremadamente desafiante" pero no de "desesperanza". "Los objetivos son alcanzables. La misión es viable", añadió.

"Todos tenemos que soportar el peso y avanzar juntos. Si podemos hacer eso, y podemos ayudar al pueblo iraquí para que haga lo mismo, entonces existe la probabilidad de tener éxito", manifestó Petraeus durante una ceremonia en uno de los expalacios de Sadam Husein cerca del aeropuerto de Bagdad, que ahora es una base militar de EEUU.

"Si no lo logramos, Irak estará destinada a sufrir más violencia y enfrentamientos civiles, y ciertamente, eso es una perspectiva que debemos evitar (...) Los riesgos son muy altos", agregó.

LA MISIÓN DE BAGDAD

Petraeus asume el cargo en un momento crítico, con el encargo de llevar a cabo la nueva estrategia del presidente George Bush, que busca frenar la violencia cotidiana que, con coches bomba y kamikazes suicidas, causa decenas de numerosos muertos todos los días. Miles de soldados de EEUU han lanzado la operación Bagdad, un ambicioso plan para devolver la seguridad a la capital iraquí que lleva un año sumida en episodios diarios de violencia sectaria.

IDOYA NOAIN
NUEVA YORK
11/2/2007 Edición Impresa LA SEGURIDAD MUNDIAL|EL CONFLICTO IRAQUÍ
Domingo 11 feb. 2007
El Periódico de Catalunya
Barcelona España
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Al Qaeda entrena en el desierto del Sahel a 'yihadistas' reclutados en España

Yihadistas reclutados en España están siendo entrenados en el manejo de armas y explosivos en los desiertos del Sahel, la región árida y semidesértica de África que se extiende desde el océano Atlántico hasta el mar Rojo.



El Sahel es una tierra de miseria extrema, fronteras difusas y Gobiernos débiles

Los campos de entrenamiento en Malí, Mauritania y Níger están considerados la mayor amenaza para Europa

La policía cree que varios radicales captados por el reclutador detenido esta semana en Reus ya entrenan en el Sahel

El 20% de los terroristas suicidas en Irak procede supuestamente del grupo llamado ahora Al Qaeda en el Magreb

"La gente es pobre y se convierte en lo que le pidan", explica un funcionario de Malí

Los servicios de inteligencia españoles ven con preocupación la nueva base de Al Qaeda


Bin Laden ha establecido en Malí, uno de los países más pobres del planeta, una base de entrenamiento de Al Qaeda y sus aliados argelinos del Grupo Salafista para la Predicación y el Combate, según servicios secretos europeos y estadounidenses. Bin Laden ha cumplido su objetivo de tener en África una base cercana a Europa desde la que atacarla.

En el enorme y caótico mercado de Bamako que rodea a la Gran Mezquita, un hormiguero en el que se concentran miles de malienses, escasean los hiyab (pañuelo islámico) y es difícil encontrar a una mujer que se cubra con un burka. Pero en ciudades y pueblos del norte de Malí como Kidal, Tombuctú y Gao la estampa cambia y aparecen signos del fundamentalismo. ¿Qué está pasando en Malí, uno de los países más pobres del planeta? ¿Por qué se habla de yihad entre algunos árabes y tuaregs? Informes de los servicios de inteligencia europeos y norteamericanos aseguran que este gigantesco oasis se ha convertido en la nueva base de descanso y entrenamiento de Al Qaeda y sus asociados argelinos del Grupo Salafista para la Predicación y el Combate (GSPC), una escisión del Grupo Islámico Armado (GIA).

Bin Laden cuenta ya con uno de sus sueños más anhelados: un fiel aliado en África y una base próxima a Europa desde la que preparar nuevos ataques.

"Estoy con Osama mientras porta el estandarte en la vanguardia. Estoy con Osama proporcionando una victoria urgente o concediendo la dignidad a los mártires... No encontrará en nosotros más que oído y obediencia", afirma Abu Musab Abde I Wadud, el emir argelino del GSPC, en el manifiesto de lealtad a Bin Laden que hizo público el pasado 13 de septiembre. Una alianza que ha disparado las alarmas entre los responsables de la seguridad de la Unión Europea, en especial los de España y Francia por la numerosa presencia de militantes del GSPC en ambos países. En diferentes ciudades españolas han sido detenidos desde 2001 un centenar de miembros de este grupo que, además, recluta muyahidin para enviarlos a distintas zonas de conflicto internacional.

Yihadistas reclutados en España por el GSPC están siendo entrenados en el manejo de armas, explosivos y venenos en campos de adiestramiento en estos desiertos del Sahel, la región árida y semidesértica de África que se extiende desde el océano Atlántico hasta el mar Rojo, en contacto con las márgenes meridionales del desierto del Sáhara, según señalan a este periódico fuentes de la lucha antiterrorista. La policía cree que varios de los 35 yihadistas captados en Cataluña por el profesor de taekwondo Mbar El Jaafari, militante marroquí del GSPC detenido la pasada semana en Reus (Tarragona), han viajado a los campos del Sahel. Allí cuentan con armas pesadas, morteros, misiles tierra-aire y teléfonos por satélite.

El pasado 25 de enero, Javier Zaragoza, fiscal jefe de la Audiencia Nacional; Hassan El Oufi, fiscal general de Marruecos, y Jean Claude Marin, fiscal antiterrorista de París, firmaron en Rabat un acuerdo por el que se comunicarán en tiempo real la información antiterrorista sobre las redes de Al Qaeda. Las lentas comisiones rogatorias y la burocracia judicial han desaparecido para combatir con mayor agilidad el terrorismo islamista. La cumbre de los fiscales antiterroristas se centró en los nuevos campos de entrenamiento del Sahel y en el peligro que representan para estos tres países. Argelia no se sumó al acuerdo por sus tradicionales discrepancias con Marruecos.

"Ya no tienen que ir a Afganistán ni a Irak. Ahora entrenan aquí al lado. La marcha y el retorno es mucho más fácil, por lo que el peligro aumenta", señala uno de los firmantes del acuerdo. "El foco en materia de seguridad está cambiando. Es importante que la información se comparta no sólo a nivel policial", apunta Ángel Lorente, el magistrado español de enlace en Rabat.

Los hombres del GSPC que tradicionalmente operaban en Argelia han encontrado aliados en las zonas más deprimidas de Mauritania, Malí, Níger y Chad, en una vasta tierra de nadie donde trapichean y roban con la ayuda de nómadas, pastores y cheijs locales a los que proporcionan dinero y vehículos todo terreno; a su vez piden protección.

Amari Saifi, ex paracaidista del ejército argelino y líder del GSPC detenido en Chad en 2004, anudó los primeros lazos de su grupo en esta zona mediante una estrategia tan antigua como el matrimonio de conveniencia. El Para, como le denominaban los suyos, se casó con tres jóvenes tuaregs en Malí. "La gente es muy pobre y si les dan dinero se convierten en salafistas, en yihadistas o en lo que les pidan", se justifica el funcionario Omar Sangari, de 49 años, en su viejo despacho del Ministerio de Administración Territorial en Bamako. "Son traficantes de armas, drogas y tabaco. Están desde la frontera sur de Argelia hasta Chad y Sudán. Venden su botín en Egipto, allí hay mucho dinero, y las armas acaban en Palestina o Irak", explica.

Servir en el ejército como lo hizo Saifi no parece impedimento para apoyar al GSPC. El tuareg Fagada, rebelde contra el Gobierno de Malí, era coronel del raquítico ejército maliense, 7.350 hombres, hasta el pasado 23 de mayo en que asaltó un cuartel militar en Kidal y robó decenas de armas. Iyad ag Ali, "mercenario en Palestina y Libia", según le describe Sangari, y Bahanga son los otros rebeldes del norte que apoyan a los salafistas en un país donde la población urbana es minoritaria, el analfabetismo supera el 80% y la esperanza de vida roza los 48 años. Los tres viven libres en el desierto o las montañas y el Gobierno maliense negocia con ellos sin perseguirlos. "No son terroristas, son rebeldes que luchan por mejorar las terribles condiciones de su pueblo, el más pobre del país", asegura Ousmane Maiga, natural de Gao. Los tuaregs son una minoría en Malí, alrededor de 200.000.

Iyad ag Ali fue la persona que intermedió con el GSPC para liberar a 32 turistas alemanes secuestrados en 2003 por este grupo terrorista en la frontera entre Argelia y Malí y trasladados a miles de kilómetros al noroeste de Tombuctú. Se sospecha que el Gobierno alemán pagó para recuperarlos. "Fue una mediación muy complicada", recuerda el coronel Baba Toué, gobernador de Gao y mediador junto al rebelde Ali. Desde hace meses, los servicios secretos argelinos intentan comprar el apoyo de los tuaregs rebeldes para que dejen de asistir y dar cobijo a los terroristas del GSPC, según señala un responsable de los Renseignements Generaux, uno de los servicios secretos franceses.

Los servicios de información e inteligencia españoles observan la nueva base de Al Qaeda en el Sahel con interés y preocupación. "Por esa zona el GSPC campa a sus anchas. Es una tierra inhóspita donde hacen lo que quieren. Las Fuerzas Armadas argelinas entran a veces para atacarles, pero sirve de poco. Con Mauritania, Malí o Nigeria no podemos contar, son países muy pobres y no responden. Al Qaeda ha encontrado allí un paraíso, un territorio de descanso y entrenamiento próximo a Europa", señala un analista. "Es un peligro potencial para Francia y España", responde un jefe de la Guardia Civil.

El Hadj Issiaka Traeré, de 58 años, responsable de la División de Asuntos Religiosos de Malí, es un hombre simpático y afable, pero tuerce el gesto cuando se le pregunta por la creciente presencia en su país de predicadores paquistaníes. "Es verdad que hemos expulsado a algunos por actividades sospechosas y por predicar sin autorización, pero de momento la situación aquí no es preocupante. Nosotros somos pacíficos, no queremos saber nada de la yihad". En el último año se ha incrementado la presencia de predicadores paquistaníes y saudíes que recorren las mezquitas malienses hablando del Corán y, en ocasiones, de la yihad.

El 90% de los 13,5 millones de habitantes de Malí son musulmanes. Hay registradas 17.500 mezquitas, pero los servicios de información alertan de la presencia de estos nuevos predicadores que con dinero procedente de Arabia Saudí extienden la corriente wahabita y levantan nuevos templos, orfanatos y centros de caridad en Tombuctú y en pueblos del desierto, siempre en las zonas del norte más pobres y desfavorecidas.

¿Es cierto que cada vez hay más imanes radicales en Malí? "A los que hacen una aplicación estricta del islam les llamamos radicales. No le niego que existen en todo el país. Hay moderados y también lo que usted llama radicales", responde el responsable de Asuntos Religiosos. "En mi país la cultura está siempre por delante de la religión", comenta un joven imán en uno de los barrios más pobres de Bamako.

Algunos observadores argelinos aventuraron que con la detención en Chad de Amari Saifi, el ex paracaidista convertido en terrorista, el GSPC estaba tocado de muerte. Pero se equivocaron. Los nuevos aliados de Al Qaeda viven ahora un periodo de expansión. "El movimiento yihadista es global. No importa la nacionalidad, sólo la creencia. Y el GSPC se ha convertido en un movimiento internacional y se está nutriendo de militantes en esos nuevos territorios del Sahel", reflexiona un responsable español de la lucha antiterrorista. "De Europa traen a entrenar aquí a gente captada en Francia y España", asegura una fuente diplomática.

En 2004 y 2005, las páginas del GSPC en Internet anunciaron el nacimiento de un nuevo grupo yihadista en Argelia, "Al Qaeda en la tierra de los bereberes", inspirado en "Al Qaeda en la tierra de los dos ríos", uno de los nombres que usa la compleja red de Al Zarqaui en sus ataques a Irak. Desde hace varias semanas y tras su alianza con Bin Laden se hacen llamar "Al Qaeda en el Magreb". Pero al margen de denominaciones su presencia internacional produce vértigo: el 20% de los suicidas extranjeros en Irak procede presuntamente de sus filas y, según fuentes sirias, en 2005 arrestaron a 150 argelinos que intentaban cruzar la frontera para unirse a la insurgencia. En los dos últimos años, las autoridades argelinas han extraditado a Marruecos y Túnez a más de 20 personas que pretendían unirse al movimiento.

Los expertos aseguran que al GSPC se le ha quedado pequeña su base argelina. Además del Sahel sus células durmientes se extienden a España, donde obtienen financiación de la delincuencia común y captan militantes, así como a Francia, Italia, Reino Unido, Afganistán y Chechenia.

No hay fronteras para la yihad. En 2005, la Guardia Civil detuvo en la Costa del Sol a siete argelinos del GSPC que asaltaban chalés de lujo y robaban joyas en Marbella y Málaga. Enviaban su botín a Abu Haitan, uno de los dirigentes de este grupo en el Sahel. Los brillantes robados en Puerto Banús sirvieron para financiar la muerte de más de 50 personas en Argelia, Mauritania, Malí y Afganistán

La Administración de Georges Bush ha enviado a Tombuctú y Gao a fuerzas especiales para entrenar a las tropas de Malí en contraterrorismo y combate en el desierto. También les han facilitado algunos vehículos y equipos de comunicaciones. Pero las autoridades en Bamako sonríen cuando se les pregunta si su pequeño ejército puede perseguir a los hombres del GSPC o descubrir sus campos de entrenamiento. "El norte es enorme, es imposible vigilar esas fronteras y hasta el Gobierno actúa como si fuera tierra de nadie", reconoce un funcionario del Gobierno. Y añade: "¿Por qué cree usted que los rebeldes tuaregs, que desde los años cincuenta han hecho tres revoluciones, hacen lo que quieren? La iniciativa del Gobierno de EE UU contra el terrorismo en el Transáhara está siendo un fracaso", asevera un diplomático europeo acreditado en Bamako.

¿Qué se puede hacer cuando en una zona como el Sahel, con fronteras difusas y Gobiernos débiles, se asienta el principal aliado en África de Bin Laden?

"Hay iniciativas diplomáticas, los servicios de inteligencia han transmitido la amenaza, pero podemos esperar muy poco de países donde la pobreza es extrema. Observamos la salida de los pesqueros y los barcos procedentes de Orán (Argelia). Algunos de los que se han formado en el Sahel regresan a Europa con la orden de atacar", reconoce un agente español especializado en el Magreb.

La extrema pobreza del norte de Malí es un caldo de cultivo que aprovechan los islamistas, mientras el Gobierno maliense sigue haciendo promesas de un desarrollo que no llega. El general Kafougouna Kone, de 60 años, ministro de Administración Territorial, habla de Kidal, uno de los lugares más deprimidos, como una bonita ciudad "que ha cambiado mucho". "Estamos llenos de proyectos para desarrollar el norte", espeta orgulloso.

JOSÉ MARÍA IRUJO (ENVIADO ESPECIAL) - Bamako - 11/02/2007
* ELPAIS.com > * España
La lucha contra el terrorismo islamista
© Diario EL PAÍS S.L.
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El reclutador sobresaliente

• El islamista detenido en Reus reúne las características de un captador modélico para Al Qaeda



En numerosos escritos que circulan por internet, los ideólogos del yihadismo instruyen sobre cómo debe ser el modus operandi de los muyahidin.

Si una sentencia judicial confirmara las imputaciones que recaen sobre el presunto reclutador de Reus, Mbark el Jaafari, detenido en una operación policial el pasado lunes, este marroquí habría obtenido la suficiencia para ser considerado un captador modélico desde la lógica de Al Qaeda y sus organizaciones afines.

Al margen de los despachos de agencia que recogían el comunicado del Ministerio de Interior, solo EL PERIÓDICO (6/02/2007) ha otorgado a la detención la importancia que merece en el marco de la lucha antiterrorista.

Según la información oficial hasta ahora difundida, en los últimos ochos meses El Jaafari ha enviado desde España a 32 yihadistas para cometer atentados suicidas en Irak y preparar otras operaciones en el Magreb.

Además, ha financiado esas actividades con dinero recaudado entre la comunidad musulmana de Catalunya. Los datos hablan de uno de los reclutadores e intermediarios más eficientes que se hayan conocido jamás en Europa.

RESULTA ARDUA la tarea científica de caracterizar el perfil de los reclutadores de yihadistas en Europa, pero casos como el de El Jaafari allanan el camino con datos reveladores. Entre la información que ha publicado la policía y el aná- lisis que hacemos de ella, se pueden enumerar algunas conclusiones para explicar por qué este albañil marroquí ha tenido tal éxito en la captación de guerreros para hacer el yihad.

A saber:

--Actuaba en un entorno, Catalunya y más concretamente en Tarragona, donde la predicación del salafismo está ampliamente asentada y donde el proceso de radicalización puede verse facilitado. Hay que recordar que a principios de enero de 2007, también en Reus, era detenido el imán Boussiri.

No hay que inferir que los salafistas apoyen la acción violenta del yihadismo de Al Qaeda, pero su marco teórico puede incitar a la acción. ¿Qué se dice en muchos almimbares de la comunidad salafista de Europa? Se da un cierto victimismo que puede movilizar a jóvenes inquietos: "Sed pacientes, algún día la luz del islam volverá a brillar en Al Andalus", "la opresión de Occidente sobre los musulmanes es humillante, pero la fe nos salvará", etcétera.

--Este captador actuaba desde una posición de autoridad con enorme influencia sobre un colectivo de potenciales yihadistas, basado en el prestigio que le da su experiencia en escenarios de lucha como Afganistán, legitimado por su red de contactos dentro de la organización terrorista que le permitía ser conocedor de la logística necesaria para llevar a reclutas hasta los lugares de acción, y respetado por su formación religiosa en la doctrina yihadista.

--El Jaafari está familiarizado con la percepción entre muchos musulmanes de España de que sus correligionarios en Irak, Afganistán o Guantánamo están siendo humillados, lo que aprovechaba para que algunos miembros de esa comunidad aportasen limosnas (sadaqa o zakat) con el objetivo de hacer lo que se llama en la ideología de Al Qaeda el "yihad económico" para ayudar a los combatientes.

Mediante esa contribución, el donante consigue un reconocimiento social y un beneficio espiritual por reforzar una identidad comunitaria islámica. El Jaafari, como recaudador, se convierte así en un mensajero creíble porque acude a los ideales de justicia y solidaridad que son obligaciones de todo musulmán con su comunidad.

--En su domicilio adoctrinaba a sus aprendices de yihadista en el martirio, lo que no deja de entrar también en la lógica de Al Qaeda, puesto que los captados hoy día en Europa no tienen por lo general un formación militar, por lo que son más útiles para la causa como bombas humanas.

No sería extraño que entre el material audiovisual incautado por la policía se encontrara algún clásico como el vídeo Por el amor al martirio. Convencer a una persona para que se suicide no es un ejercicio de radicalización sencillo, a pesar de que esté de moda alcanzar el paraíso por esa vía entre los yihadistas. Por esa razón, si se confirma que el reclutador de Reus ha logrado hacer operativos a 32 kamikazes desde mayo del 2006, entonces estaremos ante un maestro captador.

--El detenido en Reus, como mandan los cánones de los manuales de los ideólogos del yihadismo, estaba en buena forma física --frecuentaba un gimnasio de la localidad y participaba en combates de boxeo--, una cualidad indispensable para todo guerrero del islam. Sin duda, el aspecto de atleta del maestro servía de ejemplo para los aspirantes a suicidas, que también debían lograr un buen tono físico para llevar a buen puerto sus misiones.

No es difícil ver a grupos de jóvenes musulmanes en el Reino Unido o Marruecos que después de las oraciones en la mezquita se dirigen en grupo a gimnasios para aprender artes marciales.

EL MARGEN de actuación de los reclutadores en España se estrecha porque su perfil y sus hábitos de comportamiento cada vez son más familiares para los servicios de información de seguridad e inteligencia.

No obstante, si el captador de Reus ha enviado a más de 30 potenciales suicidas a Irak y a países del Magreb, se puede afirmar que ha obtenido una suficiencia en materia terrorista.

MARCOS García Rey*
*Investigador del yihadismo internacional.
12/2/2007 Edición Impresa
LA LUCHA CONTRA EL TERRORISMO INTERNACIONAL //
MARCOS GARCÍA REY
Lunes 12 feb. 2007
El Periódico de Catalunya
Barcelona España
http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=379221&idseccio_PK=1006&h=070212

Military Ties Iran To Arms In Iraq

Explosives Supplied To Shiite Militias, U.S. Officials Say



BAGHDAD, Feb. 11 -- Senior U.S. military officials in Iraq sought Sunday to link Iran to deadly armor-piercing explosives and other weapons that they said are being used to kill U.S. and Iraqi troops with increasing regularity.

During a long-awaited presentation, held in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, the officials displayed mortar shells, rocket-propelled grenades and a powerful cylindrical bomb, capable of blasting through an armored Humvee, that they said were manufactured in Iran and supplied to Shiite militias in Iraq for attacks on U.S. and Iraqi troops.

"Iran is a significant contributor to attacks on coalition forces, and also supports violence against the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi people," said a senior defense official, who was joined by a defense analyst and an explosives expert, both also from the military.

The officials said they would speak only on the condition of anonymity, so the explosives expert and the analyst, who would normally not speak to the news media, could provide information directly. The analyst's exact title and full name were not revealed to reporters. The officials released a PowerPoint presentation including photographs of the weaponry, but did not allow media representatives to record, photograph or videotape the briefing or the materials on display.

An official at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad called the U.S. accusations "fabricated" and "baseless."

"We deny such charges. We ask those who are claiming such evidence: Show the documents in public," said the official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. "We cannot compensate for the American failure and fiasco in Iraq. . . . It is not our policy to be involved in any hostile operations against coalition forces here."

The U.S. officials said weapons were smuggled into the country by the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that U.S. officials believe is under the control of Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The officials in Baghdad said that Iranians recently detained in Iraq by U.S. forces belong to the Quds Force.

With so much official U.S. buildup about the purported evidence of Iranian influence in Iraq, the briefing was also notable for what was not said or shown. The officials offered no evidence to substantiate allegations that the "highest levels" of the Iranian government had sanctioned support for attacks against U.S. troops. Also, the military briefers were not joined by U.S. diplomats or representatives of the CIA or the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Although the administration has made many assertions about Iran's nuclear program, its role in Iraq and its ties to groups on the State Department's terrorism list, the U.S. government has never publicly offered evidence proving the allegations. The briefing was the first time during the Bush administration that officials had sought to make a public intelligence case against Iran.

Iraq's deputy foreign minister, Labeed M. Abbawi, said in an interview Sunday that the Iraqi government remains in the dark about the full U.S. investigation into Iranian activities in Iraq. "It is difficult for us here in the diplomatic circles just to accept whatever the American forces say is evidence," he said.

"If they have anything really conclusive, then they should come out and say it openly, then we will pick it up from there and use diplomatic channels" to discuss it with Iran, he said. "The method or the way it's being done should be changed, to have more cooperation with us."

U.S. military officials in Iraq had previously described the use of "explosively shaped charges" to target vehicles, but Sunday's briefing was the first time they displayed pieces of what they called an "explosively formed penetrator" or EFP.

The one such device shown at the briefing was a cylinder of PVC pipe about eight inches long and about six inches in diameter. The officials said the devices are deadly because the explosion sends a slug of malleable metal, often copper, at velocities high enough to penetrate the armor of tanks and Humvees. Their components require precision machining that Iraq has shown no evidence of being able to perform, the officials said.

The first known attack using such weapons in Iraq occurred in May 2004, and the rate of attacks using them has nearly doubled in 2006, the officials said. They have also been used in southern Lebanon, the explosives expert said. The Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah receives military support from Iran.

The defense analyst said Iranians used Iraqi smugglers to bring the weapons into Iraq. "The smoking gun of an Iranian standing over an American with a gun, it's never going to happen," he said.

The officials said the weapons are often supplied to what the officials called "rogue" elements of the Mahdi Army, the powerful Shiite militia led by anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. One official said there was no "widespread involvement" of the Iraqi government in supplying the weaponry.

A group of Iraqis coming into southern Iraq from Iran were detained by Iraqi border forces in 2005, the defense analyst said, and "they had the materials, EFPs and whatnot, on them."

The officials provided further details on the case of two Iranians captured during a December raid on the compound of a leading Shiite politician, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and five Iranians seized in the raid of a liaison office in the northern city of Irbil in January.

The raid at Hakim's compound netted Mohsen Chirazi, whom U.S. officials described as a high-ranking Quds Force operations chief, as well as documents with information about sniper rifles and mortars, the officials said. The senior defense official said that when U.S. officials discussed the allegations with Hakim's representatives, their explanation was that "it is normal for different groups to acquire armaments for protection purposes."

Following protests from Iraqi officials, the U.S. released Chirazi and the other Iranian captured with him. Hakim visited President Bush at the White House in December.

In the January raid of the Iranian liaison office, which provides consular services in Irbil, U.S. forces captured five Iranians. U.S. officials said they were Quds Force operatives who carried no passports and had fake identification cards. At the time of the raid they were trying to alter their appearance by shaving their heads -- U.S. forces found a bag of hair -- and they were flushing documents down a toilet, the officials said. Explosive residue was found on the hands of at least one of the Iranians, they said.

The Iraqi government has called for their release as well. Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, has said that the liaison office was operating under the approval of the Kurdish regional government and that Iraq was in the process of formalizing it as a diplomatic consulate.

The weapons displayed for reporters on two tables on Sunday -- rocket-propelled grenades, football-shaped mortar shells, the shaped explosive charge and about 40 tail fins of exploded mortar shells -- showed specific signs of Iranian manufacture, the officials said. The mortar tail fins, for example, were made from a single fused piece of metal, while other countries make mortar shells that have removable parts, the explosives expert said.

Two rocket-propelled grenades, with the markings "P.G. 7-AT-1," were said to be made exclusively in Iran.

The process of the briefing, delayed by more than two weeks, was unusual. President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, said in a recent meeting with reporters that the original media presentation had overstated the evidence against Iran and needed to be toned down.

At the Green Zone briefing Sunday, the senior defense official said charts and graphs outlining the scope of attacks with shaped charges had been removed from the presentation by the intelligence community. "The reason we're talking about this right now is the vast increase in the number of EFPs being found," he said. The U.S. forces in Iraq "are not trying to hype this up to be more than it is."


Staff writer Dafna Linzer in New York and special correspondent Naseer Mehdawi in Baghdad contributed to this report.
By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 12, 2007; Page A01
© 2007 The Washington Post Company
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U.S. Says Arms Link Iranians to Iraqi Shiites

BAGHDAD, Feb. 11 — After weeks of internal debate, senior United States military officials on Sunday literally put on the table their first public evidence of the contentious assertion that Iran supplies Shiite extremist groups in Iraq with some of the most lethal weapons in the war. They said those weapons had been used to kill more than 170 Americans in the past three years.



Never before displayed in public, the weapons included squat canisters designed to explode and spit out molten balls of copper that cut through armor. The canisters, called explosively formed penetrators or E.F.P.s, are perhaps the most feared weapon faced by American and Iraqi troops here.

In a news briefing held under strict security, the officials spread out on two small tables an E.F.P. and an array of mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades with visible serial numbers that the officials said link the weapons directly to Iranian arms factories. The officials also asserted, without providing direct evidence, that Iranian leaders had authorized smuggling those weapons into Iraq for use against the Americans. The officials said such an assertion was an inference based on general intelligence assessments.

That inference, and the anonymity of the officials who made it, seemed likely to generate skepticism among those suspicious that the Bush administration is trying to find a scapegoat for its problems in Iraq, and perhaps even trying to lay the groundwork for war with Iran.

Officials at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad said they had no comment on the American accusations, the latest in a back-and-forth between the countries as tension has escalated over Tehran’s rising influence in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East and suspicions about its nuclear energy program. And while the Americans displayed what they said was the physical evidence of their claims about Iran’s role in Iraq, they also left many questions unanswered, including proof that the Iranian government was directing the delivery of weapons.

The officials were repeatedly pressed on why they insisted on anonymity in such an important matter affecting the security of American and Iraqi troops. A senior United States military official gave a partial answer, saying that without anonymity, a senior Defense Department analyst who participated in the briefing could not have contributed.

The officials also were defensive about the timing of disclosing such incriminating evidence, since they had known about it as early as 2004. They said E.F.P. attacks had nearly doubled in 2006 compared with the previous year and a half.

“The reason we’re talking about this right now is the vast increase in the number of E.F.P.s being found,” one official said. American-led forces in Iraq, the official said, “are not trying to hype this up to be more than it is.”

Whatever doubts were created about the timing and circumstances of the weapons disclosures, the direct physical evidence presented on Sunday was extraordinary.

The officials said the E.F.P. weapons arrived in Iraq in the form of what they described as a “kit” containing high-grade metals and highly machined parts — like a shaped, concave lid that folds into a molten ball while hurtling toward its target.

For the first time, American officials provided a specific casualty total from these weapons, saying they had killed more than 170 Americans and wounded 620 since June 2004, when one of the devices first killed a service member.

But then the officials went much further, asserting without specific evidence that the Iranian security apparatus, called the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - Quds Force controlled delivery of the materials to Iraq. And in a further inference, the officials asserted that the Quds Force, sometimes called the I.R.G.C. - Quds, could be involved only with Iranian government complicity

“We have been able to determine that this material, especially on the E.F.P. level, is coming from the I.R.G.C. - Quds Force,” said the senior defense analyst. That, the analyst said, meant direction for the operation was “coming from the highest levels of the Iranian government.”

At least one shipment of E.F.P.s was captured as it was smuggled from Iran into southern Iraq in 2005, the officials said. Caches and arrays of E.F.P.s, as well as mortars and other weapons traceable to Iran, have been repeatedly found inside Iraq in areas dominated by militias known to have ties to Iran, the officials said. One cache of antitank rocket-propelled grenades and other items was seized as recently as Jan. 23, the officials said.

The precise machining of E.F.P. components, the officials said, also links the weapons to Iran. “We have no evidence that this has ever been done in Iraq,” the senior military official said.

The officials also gave fresh details on recent American raids in Baghdad and the northern city of Erbil in which Quds Force members were picked up and accused of working with extremist groups to plan attacks on American and Iraqi forces.

Some of the five Iranians still being detained after they were picked up in Erbil on Jan. 11 had been flushing documents down a toilet when they were found, the defense analyst said, and they had recently been engaged in “changing their appearance” — apparently shaving their heads, though for what reason the analyst did not know.

An earlier raid in Baghdad was carried out, the officials said, after American forces received word that the No. 2 Quds Force official, whom they identified as Mohsin Chizari, was unexpectedly in Iraq. When Mr. Chizari was picked up in a raid in December, he was carrying false identification, the officials said.

He was later released to the Iraqi government with another Iranian official who was picked up at the same time. The Iraqis asked both Iranians to leave the country.

The senior defense analyst said there was no direct link between the detained Iranians and the physical evidence presented on Sunday. But the analyst said, “the overall tenor” of the evidence was that Mr. Chizari was implicated in bringing E.F.P.s into Iraq.

The briefing also presented new information on what the Americans call the smuggling routes. There are three main routes, officials said: the Mandelli border crossing, east of Baghdad; the Mehran crossing, in the marshes to the south; and in the southern city of Basra.

Paid Iraqis, rather than Iranians themselves, carry the materials across the border, the officials said.

The senior military official blamed recent press reports for, he said, overstating the importance of the weapons presentation, which had been delayed. Part of the delay reflected a view among officials in Washington that the original presentation was insufficiently strong. Officials here did not address that element of the internal debate.

The senior American military official did make it clear that declassifying the material took place only after weeks of analysis on what information could be useful to hostile forces — information that has mostly been kept out of the public eye since the E.F.P.s began turning up in Iraq. “We publicly have not acknowledged E.F.P.s for the past two years,” the senior military official said.

Laid out on the tables themselves were the tailfins of dozens of apparently used mortar shells, as well as intact mortar shells, rocket-propelled grenades, cases for some of the weaponry, the E.F.P., and two identification cards the officials said were taken in the Erbil raid.

The shells had serial numbers in English in order to comply with international standards for arms, the officials said. One grenade, for instance, was marked with the serial number P.G.7-AT-1 followed by LOT:5-31-2006. The officials said that the serial numbers clearly identified the grenade as being of Iranian manufacture and the date showed that it had been made in 2006.

Commanders in Baghdad are acutely aware of the deadly E.F.P.s. Col. Steve Townsend, commander of the Third Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Baghdad, said his unit has encountered about a dozen E.F.P.s in the past two months.

Iran’s role in Iraq has been discussed in recent months in public and private testimony by senior intelligence officials. In testimony last month, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said “there’s a clear line of evidence that points out the Iranians want to punish the United States, hurt the United States in Iraq, tie down the United States in Iraq, so that our other options in the region, against other activities the Iranians might have, would be limited.”

Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said last month that he believed that Iranian operatives inside Iraq were supporting Shiite militias and working against American troops.

But he also asserted that the White House had a poor understanding of Iranian calculations and added that he was concerned that the Bush administration was building a case for a more confrontational policy toward Tehran.


Richard A. Oppel Jr. contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Michael R. Gordon and Felicity Barringer from Washington.
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: February 12, 2007
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
New York USA
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/world/middleeast/12weapons.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th

al Qaeda anuncia preparacion de graves atentados terroristas en Arabi Saudita

En Arabia Saudita un grupo de extremistas estrechamente ligado a Al Qaeda anunció preparación de graves atentados terroristas en el territorio del reino, comunica la tele-compañía norteamericana ABC.



"Durante un determinado período estamos preparando operaciones concretas que opacarán las atrocidades de las cruzadas en la Península Arábiga", cita la tele-compañía la declaración de la edición "Voz de Yihad" que se divulga vía Internet, emitida por el grupo terrorista titulado Al Qaeda Saudí" y encabezado por un tal Muhammad Abdallah al-Nasser.

"En la Península Arábiga tus soldados trabajan, planean y preparan aquello lo que cause alegría a ti y a todos los musulmanes", declaran los extremistas dirigiéndose al fundador de Al Qaeda, Usama Ben Laden. Según ABC, la edición "Voz de Yihad" salía a la luz con regularidad hace varios años, cuando ese grupo operaba activamente en Arabia Saudita y realizó varios actos terroristas en algunas urbanizaciones e instalaciones petroleras. Conviene señalar que en febrero de 2006 sufrió fracaso el atentado terrorista del mencionado grupo, y las autoridades sauditas lograron liquidar o detener a muchos cabecillas del mismo, lo que lo debilitó en grado sumo.

El jefe del servicio de prensa de la embajada de Arabia Saudita en Washington, Nail al-Yubeir expresó la seguridad de que además de las declaraciones altisonantes, ese grupo terrorista es incapaz de hacer algo. "Lo único que pueden es publicar declaraciones, lo que demuestra que se ven obligados a actuar en profunda clandestinidad", dijo el diplomático saudita en entrevista a la ABC.

Según comunicaron a RIA Novosti fuentes en el departamento de Estado de EE UU, conforme a los datos relativos al jueves, el servicio consular del departamento diplomático norteamericano no divulgó advertencias públicas algunas respecto a la posible amenaza de atentados terroristas en Arabia Saudita.

Washington, 9 de febrero, RIA Novosti.
09/ 02/ 2007
RIA Novosti
Moscu Rusia
http://sp.rian.ru/onlinenews/20070209/60471053.html

Deadliest Bomb in Iraq Is Made by Iran, U.S. Says

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 — The most lethal weapon directed against American troops in Iraq is an explosive-packed cylinder that United States intelligence asserts is being supplied by Iran.



The assertion of an Iranian role in supplying the device to Shiite militias reflects broad agreement among American intelligence agencies, although officials acknowledge that the picture is not entirely complete.

In interviews, civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies provided specific details to support what until now has been a more generally worded claim, in a new National Intelligence Estimate, that Iran is providing “lethal support” to Shiite militants in Iraq.

The focus of American concern is known as an “explosively formed penetrator,” a particularly deadly type of roadside bomb being used by Shiite groups in attacks on American troops in Iraq. Attacks using the device have doubled in the past year, and have prompted increasing concern among military officers. In the last three months of 2006, attacks using the weapons accounted for a significant portion of Americans killed and wounded in Iraq, though less than a quarter of the total, military officials say.

Because the weapon can be fired from roadsides and is favored by Shiite militias, it has become a serious threat in Baghdad. Only a small fraction of the roadside bombs used in Iraq are explosively formed penetrators. But the device produces more casualties per attack than other types of roadside bombs.

Any assertion of an Iranian contribution to attacks on Americans in Iraq is both politically and diplomatically volatile. The officials said they were willing to discuss the issue to respond to what they described as an increasingly worrisome threat to American forces in Iraq, and were not trying to lay the basis for an American attack on Iran.

The assessment was described in interviews over the past several weeks with American officials, including some whose agencies have previously been skeptical about the significance of Iran’s role in Iraq. Administration officials said they recognized that intelligence failures related to prewar American claims about Iraq’s weapons arsenal could make critics skeptical about the American claims.

The link that American intelligence has drawn to Iran is based on a number of factors, including an analysis of captured devices, examination of debris after attacks, and intelligence on training of Shiite militants in Iran and in Iraq by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and by Hezbollah militants believed to be working at the behest of Tehran.

The Bush administration is expected to make public this weekend some of what intelligence agencies regard as an increasing body of evidence pointing to an Iranian link, including information gleaned from Iranians and Iraqis captured in recent American raids on an Iranian office in Erbil and another site in Baghdad.

The information includes interrogation reports from the raids indicating that money and weapons components are being brought into Iraq from across the Iranian border in vehicles that travel at night. One of the detainees has identified an Iranian operative as having supplied two of the bombs. The border crossing at Mehran is identified as a major crossing point for the smuggling of money and weapons for Shiite militants, according to the intelligence.

According to American intelligence, Iran has excelled in developing this type of bomb, and has provided similar technology to Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. The manufacture of the key metal components required sophisticated machinery, raw material and expertise that American intelligence agencies do not believe can be found in Iraq. In addition, some components of the bombs have been found with Iranian factory markings from 2006.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates appeared to allude to this intelligence on Friday when he told reporters in Seville, Spain, that serial numbers and other markings on weapon fragments found in Iraq point to Iran as a source.

Some American intelligence experts believe that Hezbollah has provided some of the logistical support and training to Shiite militias in Iraq, but they assert that such steps would not be taken without Iran’s blessing.

“All source reporting since 2004 indicates that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Corps-Quds Force is providing professionally-built EFPs and components to Iraqi Shia militants,” notes a still-classified American intelligence report that was prepared in 2006.

“Based on forensic analysis of materials recovered in Iraq,” the report continues, “Iran is assessed as the producer of these items.”

The United States, using the Swiss Embassy in Tehran as an intermediary, has privately warned the Iranian government to stop providing the military technology to Iraqi militants, a senior administration official said. The British government has issued similar warnings to Iran, according to Western officials. Officials said that the Iranians had not responded.

An American intelligence assessment described to The New York Times said that “as part of its strategy in Iraq, Iran is implementing a deliberate, calibrated policy — approved by Supreme Leader Khamenei and carried out by the Quds Force — to provide explosives support and training to select Iraqi Shia militant groups to conduct attacks against coalition targets.” The reference was to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian leader, and to an elite branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Command that is assigned the task of carrying out paramilitary operations abroad.

“The likely aim is to make a military presence in Iraq more costly for the U.S.,” the assessment said.

Other officials believe Iran is using the attacks to send a warning to the United States that it can inflict casualties on American troops if the United States takes a more forceful posture toward it.

Iran has publicly denied the allegations that it is providing military support to Shiite militants in Iraq. Javad Zarif, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, wrote in an Op-Ed article published on Thursday in The Times that the Bush administration was “trying to make Iran its scapegoat and fabricating evidence of Iranian activities in Iraq.”

The explosively formed penetrator, detonated on the roadside as American vehicles pass by, is capable of blasting a metal projectile through the side of an armored Humvee with devastating consequences.

American military officers say that attacks using the weapon reached a high point in December, when it accounted for a significant portion of Americans killed and wounded in Iraq. For reasons that remain unclear, attacks using the device declined substantially in January, but the weapons remain one of the principal threats to American troops in and around Baghdad, where five additional brigades of American combat troops are to be deployed under the Bush administration’s new plan.

“It is the most effective I.E.D out there,” said Lt. Col. James Danna, who led the Second Battalion, Sixth Infantry Regiment in Baghdad last year, referring to improvised explosive devices, as the roadside bombs are known by the American military. “To me it is a political weapon. There are not a lot of them out there, but every time we crack down on the Shia militias that weapon comes out. They want to keep us on our bases, keep us out of their neighborhoods and prevent us from doing our main mission, which is protecting vulnerable portions of the population.”

Adm. William Fallon, President Bush’s choice to head the Central Command, alluded to the weapon’s ability to punch through the side of armored Humvees in his testimony to Congress last month.

“Equipment that was, we thought, pretty effective in protecting our troops just a matter of months ago is now being challenged by some of the techniques and devices over there,” Admiral Fallon said. “So I’m learning as we go in that this is a fast-moving ballgame.”

Mr. Gates told reporters last week that he had heard there had been cases in which the weapon “can take out an Abrams tank.”

The increasing use of the weapon is the latest twist in a lethal game of measure and countermeasure that has been carried out throughout the nearly four-year-old Iraq war. Using munitions from Iraq’s vast and poorly guarded arsenal, insurgents developed an array of bombs to strike the more heavily armed and technologically superior American military.

In response, the United States military deployed armored Humvees, which in turn spawned the development of even more potent roadside bombs. American officials say that the first suspected use of the penetrator occurred in late 2003 and that attacks have risen steadily since then.

To make the weapon, a metal cylinder is filled with powerful explosives. A metal concave disk manufactured on a special press is fixed to the firing end.

Several of the cylinders are often grouped together in an array. The weapon is generally triggered when American vehicles drive by an infrared sensor, which operates on the same principle as a garage door opener. The sensor is impervious to the electronic jamming the American military uses to try to block other remote-control attacks.

When an American vehicle crosses the beam, the explosives in the cylinders are detonated, hurling their metal lids at targets at a tremendous speed. The metal changes shape in flight, forming into a slug that penetrate many types of armor.

In planning their attacks, Shiite militias have taken advantage of the tactics employed by American forces in Baghdad. To reduce the threat from suicide car bombs and minimize the risk of inadvertently killing Iraqi civilians, American patrols and convoys have been instructed to keep their distance from civilian traffic. But that has made it easier for the Shiite militias to attack American vehicles. When they see American vehicles approaching, they activate the infrared sensors.

According to American intelligence agencies, the Iranians are also believed to have provided Shiite militants with rocket-propelled grenades, shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles, mortars, 122-millimeter rockets and TNT.

Among the intelligence that the United States is expected to make public this weekend is information indicating that some of these weapons said to have been made in Iran were carried into Iraq in recent years. Examples include a shoulder-fired antiaircraft missile that was fired at a plane flying near the Baghdad airport in 2004 but which failed to launch properly; an Iranian rocket-propelled grenade made in 2006; and an Iranian 81-millimeter mortar made in 2006.

Assessments by American intelligence agencies say there is no indication that there is any kind of black-market trade in the Iranian-linked roadside bombs, and that shipments of the components are being directed to Shiite militants who have close links to Iran. The American military has developed classified techniques to try to counter the sophisticated weapon.

Marine officials say that weapons have not been found in the Sunni-dominated Anbar Province, adding to the view that the device is an Iranian-supplied and Shiite-employed weapon.

To try to cut off the supply, the American military has sought to focus on the cells of Iranian Revolutionary Guard operatives it asserts are in Iraq. American intelligence agencies are concerned that the Iranians may respond by increasing the supply of the weapons.

“We are working day and night to disassemble these networks that do everything from bring the explosives to the point of construction, to how they’re put together, to who delivers them, to the mechanisms that are used to have them go off,” Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week. “It is instructive that at least twice in the last month, that in going after the networks, we have picked up Iranians.”


By MICHAEL R. GORDON
Published: February 10, 2007
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 —
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/world/middleeast/10weapons.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th

Al-Qaeda Suspects Color White House Debate Over Iran

Last week, the CIA sent an urgent report to President Bush's National Security Council: Iranian authorities had arrested two al-Qaeda operatives traveling through Iran on their way from Pakistan to Iraq. The suspects were caught along a well-worn, if little-noticed, route for militants determined to fight U.S. troops on Iraqi soil, according to a senior intelligence official.



The arrests were presented to Bush's senior policy advisers as evidence that Iran appears committed to stopping al-Qaeda foot traffic across its borders, the intelligence official said. That assessment comes at a time when the Bush administration, in an effort to push for further U.N. sanctions on the Islamic republic, is preparing to publicly accuse Tehran of cooperating with and harboring al-Qaeda suspects.

The strategy has sparked a growing debate within the administration and the intelligence community, according to U.S. intelligence and government officials. One faction is pressing for more economic embargoes against Iran, including asset freezes and travel bans for the country's top leaders. But several senior intelligence and counterterrorism officials worry that a public push regarding the al-Qaeda suspects held in Iran could jeopardize U.S. intelligence-gathering and prompt the Iranians to free some of the most wanted individuals.

"There was real debate about all this," said one counterterrorism official. "If we go public, the Iranians could turn them loose." The official added: "At this point, we know where these guys are and at least they are off the streets. We could lose them for years if we go down this path."

The administration's planned diplomatic offensive is part of an effort to pressure Tehran from multiple directions. Bush has given the U.S. military the authority to kill or capture Iranian government agents working with Shiite militias inside Iraq. Yesterday, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said serial numbers and markings on some explosives used in Iraq indicate that the material came from Iran, but he offered no evidence.

With the aim of shaking Tehran's commitment to its nuclear program, Bush also approved last fall secret operations to target Iranian influence in southern Lebanon, in western Afghanistan, in the Palestinian territories and inside Iran. The new strategy, a senior administration official said, aims to portray Iran as a "terror-producing country, instead of an oil-producing country," with links to al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and death squads in Iraq.

U.S. officials have asserted for years that several dozen al-Qaeda fighters, including Osama bin Laden's son, slipped across the Afghan border into Iran as U.S. troops hunted for the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. U.S. and allied intelligence services, which have monitored the men's presence inside Iran, reported that Tehran was holding them under house arrest as bargaining chips for potential deals with Washington.

Last fall, Bush administration officials asked the CIA to compile a list of those suspects so the White House could publicize their presence. For years, the administration has not revealed their names, in part because it sought to protect its intelligence sources but also because at the time the U.S. government was concealing the identities of suspects it was holding in secret CIA custody.

But the names of some of the men in Iran have become public, including "high-value" targets such as al-Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith of Kuwait and Saif al-Adel of Egypt. U.S. intelligence officials said they are members of the "al-Qaeda operational management committee." U.S. intelligence officials said there are suspicions, but no proof, that one of them may have been involved from afar in planning an attack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 2003. Intelligence officials said bin Laden's son Saad is also being held with the other men in Iran.

Five administration officials were made available for interviews for this story on the condition that they not be identified. Other officials who spoke without permission -- including senior officials, career analysts and policymakers -- said their standing with the White House would be at risk if they were quoted by name.

The State Department, Pentagon and CIA referred all questions about the story to the National Security Council. In a written response to questions, NSC spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "Iran's sponsorship of terrorism is one of the reasons for the sanctions now against it. We note that U.N. Security Council resolutions already oblige all states to ensure that members of terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, are brought to justice."

Since al-Qaeda fighters began streaming into Iran from Afghanistan in the winter of 2001, Tehran had turned over hundreds of people to U.S. allies and provided U.S. intelligence with the names, photographs and fingerprints of those it held in custody, according to senior U.S. intelligence and administration officials. In early 2003, it offered to hand over the remaining high-value targets directly to the United States if Washington would turn over a group of exiled Iranian militants hiding in Iraq.

Some of Bush's top advisers pushed for the trade, arguing that taking custody of bin Laden's son and the others would produce new leads on al-Qaeda. They were also willing to trade away the exiles -- members of a group on the State Department's terrorist list -- who had aligned with Saddam Hussein in an effort to overthrow the Iranian government.

Officials have said Bush ultimately rejected the exchange on the advice of Vice President Cheney and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who argued that any engagement would legitimize Iran and other state sponsors of terrorism. Bush's National Security Council agreed to accept information from Iran on al-Qaeda but offer nothing in return, officials said.

But no information has been forthcoming, intelligence officials said. One official said the CIA and the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency have disagreed over how effectively the Iranians are controlling al-Qaeda members and whether the Tehran government is aware of the extent of al-Qaeda movements through the country.

Nevertheless, administration officials said they are determined to press Iran on the matter.

"We are not convinced that the Iranians have been honest or open about the level or degree of al-Qaeda presence in their midst," said one Bush adviser who was instrumental in coming up with a more confrontational U.S. approach to Iran. "They have not made proper accounting with respect to U.N. resolutions, have not been clear about who is in detention and have not been clear as to what is happening to individuals who might be in custody."

Bush administration officials pointed to U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1267 and 1373, which state that harboring al-Qaeda members constitutes a threat to international peace and security, and authorize force to combat that threat. The resolutions compel nations to share any information on al-Qaeda suspects and give the United Nations authority to freeze the assets of suspects and those who provide them with safe haven.

Two U.S. officials said the administration plans to argue that Iran is violating those resolutions. A team of senior U.S. officials has been holding briefings for visiting European diplomats on the issue while administration lawyers prepare options for holding Iran in violation of U.N. resolutions.

"We've started a more aggressive and major attempt to try to convince other countries to use their influence on this issue," a senior U.S. diplomat said. "Until now, the Europeans have been focused on the nuclear issue and we want this high up on the agenda."

But another government official predicted that no European country would support a call on Iran to turn the al-Qaeda group over to U.S. military detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a facility widely condemned by Washington's closest allies. In the past year, U.S. officials said they successfully pushed Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to seek extradition of their citizens held in Iran, but Tehran rebuffed the requests. Administration officials said they interpreted the refusal as evidence of cooperation between the Iranian government and the group.

"We'd be happy to see them face trial anywhere," a senior administration official said.


Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 10, 2007; Page A01
© 2007 The Washington Post Company
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U.S. Says Airstrike Kills 13 Insurgents

BAGHDAD, Feb. 8 -- U.S. forces used precision-guided munitions to kill 13 Sunni insurgents west of Baghdad on Thursday and aided Iraqi officials in the detention of a deputy cabinet minister accused of funneling money to a Shiite militia, the U.S. military said.

A doctor and a resident of the area said women and children were killed in the airstrike, but a military spokesman denied there were any civilian casualties.



The strike in Amiriyah targeted two suspected safe houses used by insurgents, a military statement said. U.S. forces said they later detained five suspected insurgents and found weapons including armor-piercing ammunition.

Ahmad Mansoor al-Zubaie, who lives near the scene of the airstrike, said it was aimed at two houses, but destroyed two additional homes.

Another resident, Muhammad Khalaf al-Zubaie, said women and children were killed in the attack.

Muhammad Ismail, a physician who works at Fallujah General Hospital, said more than 30 people wounded or killed in the attack were brought to the hospital. He said in a telephone interview that women and children were among the dead.

A U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Christopher C. Garver, said no civilians were killed. "After an airstrike we put what we call boots on the objective," he said. "We send in an exploration team to see what effect we had. They would see 40 civilians killed in an airstrike and we would report that if it had happened."

Muhammad al-Zubaie also said the target of the attack was Abu Sihail al-Zubaie, a leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Also Thursday, U.S. and Iraqi officials detained a deputy minister of health accused of funneling millions of dollars to the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia, according to the U.S. military and Health Minister Ali Hussein al-Shamari.

Shamari called the detention a "kidnapping" and criticized the way the officials took Hakim al-Zamili, one of his deputies. "They broke a door, they broke a window. And they humiliated my employees badly," Shamari said in an interview.

The U.S. military said in a statement that a senior Health Ministry official "is suspected of being a central figure in alleged corruption and rogue infiltration" of the ministry by the Mahdi Army. The statement did not name Zamili.

The detained official allegedly orchestrated several kickback schemes that directed millions of dollars to the militia "to support sectarian attacks and violence targeting Iraqi civilians," the U.S. military statement said. The military also said the senior health official had been implicated in the deaths of several ministry officials.

Shamari said he was not in a position to dispute the allegations, but said the military should have gone through proper channels before making the arrest.

Two deadly incidents involving American private security companies were disclosed Thursday.

Snipers working for one company fatally shot three guards working at the state-run al-Iraqiya television station in Baghdad on Wednesday morning, the director of the station's parent company said in an interview.

The security contractors were accompanying foreign dignitaries who were visiting the Justice Ministry, which is across the street from the station's headquarters, said Habib al-Sadr of the Iraqi Media Network.

Sadr said the three slain guards, Azhar Abdullah Ali, Nibras Muhammad Dawood and Sabah Salman Hassoon, were all in their early 20s. "Not a single bullet was shot toward the ministry building," he said.

The Iraqi guards "had full control of themselves not to attack back. I gave orders, personally gave orders, not to shoot back so that things didn't get worse and we didn't lose more men."

Lou Fintor, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, said the incident was under investigation.

It was unclear what company the contractors worked for and whether they were escorting U.S. diplomats.

Also Thursday, defense contractor KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary formerly known as Kellogg Brown and Root, said U.S. military personnel fatally shot a KBR truck driver and wounded another employee near a checkpoint outside a military facility in Balad, north of Baghdad.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the truck driver who was killed," Halliburton spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said in an e-mail. "The wounded truck driver was transported to the Air Force Theater Hospital and has since been treated and released."

Another KBR employee, Hector Patiño, 58, was killed Jan. 13 in the Green Zone in Baghdad in another apparent friendly-fire incident.

Norcross said she could not release the names of the employees shot Wednesday. The U.S. military in Baghdad did not respond to an e-mail inquiry about the incident.

Fintor, the embassy spokesman, said the death was under investigation.<