Spain: Burglaries finance African terrorism

Burglaries committed by an Islamist group in Spain financed dozens of terrorist killings in Algeria and Mauritania, the daily El Pais reported Tuesday.


The group was part of a network established by inmates at a prison near Salamanca between 1999 and 2002.


The proceedings from about 20 burglaries of villas on the southern coast were channelled to the Algerian-based Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).


The GSPC, now known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, used the money to finance attacks, including the killings of 15 soldiers in Algeria in May 2005 and of another 15 people in Mauritania a month later.


The burglars were headed by Fathi Abdellah, known as The Pakistani, who has been arrested and charged, alongside five other people, with belonging or collaborating with a terrorist organisation.


Abdellah had first-hand information about attacks in Algeria, according to the National Court.


The Supreme Court recently lifted jail terms handed to 14 among a total of 20 people suspected of belonging to the same network and of planning attacks in Spain.



Source: Expatica (English)

No comments: