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Europe | ||||||
Eurocops bust al-Qaeda cell | ||||||
2003-11-29 | ||||||
Police in Italy and Germany have arrested three North Africans suspected of recruiting suicide bombers for attacks linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq. Guess the Ansar al-Islam #3 is feeling chatty after all ... "We have managed to break up a mujahideen recruiting centre," Italy’s interior minister announced. The ring’s suspected leader, an Algerian known as "the Sheikh", was picked up in Hamburg early on Friday. A Moroccan and a Tunisian were detained in Milan late on Thursday but two other suspects managed to elude capture. The Italian authorities say the police sweep was jeopardised when news of the operation leaked to the media. Loose lips sink ships, people. An Iraqi male suspect and a Tunisian female suspect remain at large and may have fled the country, the interior ministry said, confirming that five arrest warrants had been issued. The arrests come just over two weeks after a suicide bombing killed 19 Italian soldiers and policemen in Nasiriya, southern Iraq. Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said the alleged ring had been recruiting inside Italy. "People were being approached in Italy and then being sent to training camps in north-eastern Iraq," he said. "They were being given training by a group known as Ansar al-Islam... which is known to be allied to al-Qaeda."
And now we know where all of those bombers were coming from ... The Algerian suspect, 30-year-old Mahjub Abderrazak, had previously been detained in Hamburg in July on suspicion of involvement with bomb attacks in Spain but was released due to lack of evidence. He now faces possible extradition to Italy. Oh goody, more "North Africans" ... Those arrested in Milan were identified by Italian officials as 20-year-old Housni Jamal from Morocco and 33-year-old Tunisian Bouyahia Maher Ben Abdelaziz. Reports say that a sixth suspect, a Tunisian man, was arrested last Saturday for allegedly providing logistical support and papers to the other five.
Funny, I don’t recall hearing about the Syrians running training camps for these folks ... UK police are meanwhile questioning a man suspected of having al-Qaeda links, who was arrested at a house in Gloucester, western England, where explosive materials were found on Thursday.
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Posted by:Dan Darling |
#4 "Yes, he's the sheikh of Tuscaneeeee!" |
Posted by: Fred 2003-11-29 5:46:14 PM |
#3 Damnit Raj! EarWorm Alert! |
Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-29 12:44:46 PM |
#2 "Oh yes, they call him The Sheik, fastest thing on two feet..." Uh, not this time! |
Posted by: Raj 2003-11-29 11:40:49 AM |
#1 Can you imagine the training of the smilling idiots. "Now Momah, Put the belt on thusly, yes well done, now put the coat on, very well my brother. This is the button, STOP, NOT YET! Oh you little fool, you had me worried! Just like your leettle brother, may allah bless...Hokay rrready." |
Posted by: Lucky 2003-11-29 1:15:51 AM |