Via Ennahar Online:
The United States considers Catalonia as "the greatest center of radical Islamist activity in the Mediterranean" and installed for this reason an intelligence unit in Barcelona, according to U.S. diplomatic cables revealed by Wikileaks and quoted Saturday by El Pais.
"The Spanish and American authorities have determined that Catalonia was the greatest center of radical Islamist activity in the Mediterranean," says the document sent October 2, 2007 in Washington by the U.S. embassy in Madrid.
This has led Washington to open "an intelligence agency bringing together several services in the Catalan capital to fight terrorism and organized crime," according to El Pais, which states that "the decision was adopted in October 2007 and that this secret center is operational for two years at the consulate in Barcelona."
According to documents from the embassy, quoted by El Pais, "the importance of immigration, both legal and illegal, from North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria) as from Pakistan and Bangladesh makes of the region a magnet for terrorist recruitment."
"The National Police estimated that around 60,000 Pakistanis living in Barcelona and its surroundings, mostly men, unmarried and without papers. There are also many immigrants from North Africa," they added and according to the U.S. States, "Spain is a favorite target of jihad."(source)
