Spain: the growth of Jihad activities constitutes a serious challenge to safety

The presence of Islamist cells and the strengthening of activities linked to Islamic extremism in Catalonia make this region one of the centres of the global Jihad. The Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla are constantly listening to the rhetoric of Jihad and the whole country is becoming the target of a terrorist network linked to al-Qaeda, whose goal is to win Al-Andalus back.

Angelita La Spada

Equilibri.net (24 September 2007)

The challenge of Islamic extremism

The present threat of international terrorism in Spain goes together with the development of Neo-Salafist Jihad networks. This has great importance, considering the reorganization currently in progress of the original networks in North-Africa, especially in Morocco and Algeria, as well as in the Western-European countries. Almost 80% of people detained in Spain between 2001 and 2006, on suspicion of having being involved with the Jihad terrorist activities, are for most part North-Africans, and among them, almost 80% were born in Maghreb. More than 39% of these immigrants came from Morocco and 31.4% from Algeria. There are many more Moroccan immigrants living in Spain in comparison to those from Algeria, however many Algerians has been linked to Islamic terrorism, a network which has been in existence for the last ten years. Magrebi infiltration into Spanish terrorist activity has occurred more recently.

When, during the Nineties, terrorist cells such as GIA (Armed Islamic Group) and the GSPC (Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat) were detected in Spain, their common characteristic was their origin: all the members were Algerians. The few Jihadists from Morocco living in Spain were involved in Abu Dahdah's network. Algerians and Moroccans could not act together because the former charged the latter of being weak, unreliable and cowardly and the latter thought the former was too cruel. These salient characteristics were soon put aside in favour of a more a multinational approach. Anti- terrorist efforts and the process of the globalisation of Jihad were likely the causes of this unification. After the dismantling of Abu Dahdah's terrorist network in 2001, those who had previously kept a low profile made their way to the top of the organisation and among them there were Syrians, Tunisians, Moroccans and Algerians. The subsequent dismantling of old terrorist networks and their consequent rebuilding, contributed to the process of the connection of members from different nationalities, and the Jihad political agenda has discarded its previous policy of national homogeneity.

The opening of al-Qaeda to the cooperation and affiliation of national groups characterizes the re-organization of the group in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) which is a container for several movements but could also support the mutual relationships of the different communities moved to Spain. Groups such as GSPC and GIMC (Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group) are devoted to recruiting adepts, assigning financial resources, supplying false documents and accommodation, as well as to scheduling operations from the members of terrorist organizations or connected groups, such as Ansar al Islam or the al-Qaeda organization in the Land of Two rivers, operating in Iraq. Since 2003, hundreds of young people have been recruited by Jihadist groups located in Spain. In many instances, they have been sent on the theatre of conflicts (Iraq, Afghanistan and probably even in Kashmir) to accomplish some terrorist acts or as attackers committing suicide. At other times the young recruits have been sent to the Desert of Sahel, in Northern Mali, in the GSPC training camps and in the al-Qaeda organizations in Pakistan.

Islamist terrorism in Catalunya

The evolution of Jihadist terrorism has found its hotbed in Catalonia, which is moreover considered the greatest centre for recruitment of terrorists in Europe, particularly in the triangle of Badalona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Sant Adria de Besos. Most cells come directly from Catalonia, due to the great influence of Salafite Islamism and the predisposition of young emarginated and maladjusted people, for the most part of Moroccan origins. The attendants for Jihadist recruitment come from abroad (France and Belgium) and cross Spain to accomplish their mission. The new recruitment strategies require first of all a process of westernization to favour their integration within the Catalan society and then tear them away from their socio-cultural context sending them to little villages where a 'sponsor' finds them a job, preferably in a building enterprise. Finally, once the training stage is finished, the new cells are ready to be sent to Iran, Afghanistan or Algeria, where the most skilled end up being enlisted into the Moroccan or Algerian military services.

It is estimated that from 11th September 2001 -as well as from what emerged by the trials for the attacks in Madrid- the number of cells and networks linked to al-Qaeda and other Salafist organizations has considerably increased. Among these movements, the Party of Islamic Liberation(HUT) is particularly active in Barcelona. It is accused of radicalization, but practically searches for proselytes for subversion. HUT divides the Spanish territory into wilayas (provinces), and according to this division the country is part of the European province. The Catalan Jihadist model follows the same scheme observed in Madrid, Valencia and in Andalusia. According to this model, the Sunnite radical terrorist groups (such as al-Qaeda and AQIM) create regional operative cells as well as networks, in order to support other terrorist activities and recruit Jihadist to train in the al-Qaeda camps in Mali, Mauritania and Niger. One of the characteristics of this model is the birth of the so-called informal Jihadist group, of Salafist inspiration, but not formally linked to any terrorist organization. Its members tend to organize themselves on the common idea of a global Jihad according to which Islam itself is shaped on objectives scheduled on the use of violence. Sometimes, in some agricultural Spanish centres, there are little groups of radical Muslims not linked to al-Qaeda, but sharing its ideology which show up. These are made up of individuals which operate exclusively in Spain, some of them are converted young Muslims living in Spain as opposed to Jihadists living abroad. Also the presence of individuals linked to Pakistani organizations affiliated to al-Qaeda is important, penetrating the communities of immigrants of the same origins particularly in the Catalan territory. For the most part they come from Punjab, at the borders between India and Kashmir, where the Jihadist culture is in ferment and there operate groups such as Lashkar and Tayiba or Jaish and Mohammed.

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