Wikileaks: Spain a Center of Radical Islamic Activity

by IPT News  •  Dec 16, 2010 at 10:47 am

http://www.investigativeproject.org/2411/wikileaks-spain-a-center-of-radical-islamic

An October 2, 2007 cable to American intelligence agencies called for increased U.S. and Spanish cooperation "in combating the target-rich environment of terrorist and criminal activities centered in the region." Spanish government officials told their U.S. counterparts that "they fear the threat from these atomized immigrant communities prone to radicalism, but they have very little intelligence on or ability to penetrate these groups."

The document, "Spain/CT: Proposal to Create a Southern European Law Enforcement, Counterterrorism, and Regional Intelligence Hub in Barcelona," is among tens of thousands of sensitive government transmissions released by Wikileaks. It called for establishment of a counterterrorism center in the Spanish region of Catalonia. Located in Barcelona, the facility would monitor threats that included a "large Muslim population susceptible to Jihadist recruitment."

The center would be designed to "confront the terrorist threat in all its aspects." This would include combating "the links between terrorist networks and criminals involved in the contraband of goods, drug trafficking, money laundering, human smuggling, and document falsification."

It's not clear whether the center was ever created, the Associated Press reported.

The document also lays out the importance of Spain in global counterterrorism incidents. "Spain is a past and current al-Qaeda target and a critical player in US-EU counterterrorism efforts, due to its close proximity to the Maghreb and the presence of over 1 million Muslims."

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