Europe Braces for al-Qaeda Strikes

[ECH1969]

European intelligence agencies are quietly warning of another major attack by Al Qaida.

European intelligence sources said at least one security agency in the European Union has received information of Al Qaida plans to strike either Britain, Italy or the Netherlands this month. The sources said insurgency cells in Europe were being directed by Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, commander of Al Qaida in Iraq.

"European security services right now are obsessed with the problem of European Muslims going to Iraq and returning to their countries for violence," Daniel Byman, director of Center for Peace and Security Studies, said. "And this is a problem that's likely to grow in the coming years."

The planned Al Qaida strikes were meant to coincide with the Islamic fast month of Ramadan, expected to begin over the next 48 hours. Islamic insurgency groups have reserved Ramadan for major strikes in such places as Algeria, Iraq and Israel.

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2005/october/10_06_1.html
-----------------------------------------------------------

The world is much safer with Saddam gone... um.. NOT.

[bemildred]

1. European intelligence agencies ...

tacitly admit they don't think they can do doodle about it, either.
Just luck if they catch them in time.

[tocqueville]

4. so far it has worked pretty well

about 90% has been aborted in time. The two major failures were London and Madrid. But specially in the London case there were major failures in the pre-intelligence.

[bemildred]

6. Have you some sort of evidence for that.

I don't have the impression that attacks (in Europe) are
frequent, at least the last few decades, but I do have the
impression that they succeed with some regularity, although
not necessarily spectacularly. I would be interested if you
could point me to statistics on "aborted" attacks vs those
carried through.

I would suppose the Brits and the Irish a special case, in
that, too, mainly I'm thinking of the Middle Eastern case.

[tocqueville]

8. Here is one link

http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/currentaffairs/region/westerneurope/ter050218

This is only the MAJOR attacks

I think according to some French TV reports I deem credible, that the total number is even higher.

I haven't any report of any attack (even minor) from Al Quaeda in Europe that has succeded besides the London/Madrid bombings.

check even :

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/02/AR2005070201361_pf.html

Alliance Base is the cover name for a secret Western joint counterterrorism operations center that was allegedly established in 2002 in Paris.

According to a Washington Post article by Dana Priest of July 3, 2005, Alliance Base is funded by the CIA and its French equivalent, the DGSE. It supposedly hosts officers from Great Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and the United States and is used for intelligence exchange and operational planning.

In the article, both the CIA and the French government declined to comment on Alliance Base.
_____________________________________________________
I don't count the ETA, Corsican etc... bombings. Those are mainly done to attract attention to the "cause". It's seldom somebody is injured. They normally bomb only material targets and warn the police before the explosion so people can clear the area. Of course there have been som misses, specially in Spain.

[reorg]

9. if this is your evidence

that "major" terrorist attacks in Europe have been planned, and thwarted:

"arrests of four suspects who were found to possess basic bomb-making equipment. ... All four suspects were later released for lack of legally sound evidence, ..."

then I'm greatly relieved. And there I thought there may be something to the dubious claims of some (not entirely disinterested) intelligence agencies ...

[tocqueville]

10. you quote a SINGLE event, not representative

legislations are different in different European countries and sometimes mistakes are made.

I can tell you that the case you name wouldn't happen in France, Germany and not in the countries already hit. Besides the report says that maybe up to 30 attacks have been thwarted.

One case which is amazing is the release of an alledged terrorist involved in 911 in Germany, because the FBI REFUSED to testify in court of the evidence they possessed for "security reasons".

I hope you are relieved...

[reorg]

11. no, YOU cited it

and nothing else so far in terms of hard evidence that would substantiate your claim that "90 percent" of allegedly planned terrorist attacks in Europe have been thwarted (assuming that such plans may indeed have existed).

As to the amazing cases of Mzoudi and al-Motassadeq - the former being acquitted and the latter sentenced to seven years a short while ago in his second trial (appeal pending) - for membership in a terrorist organisation: you are correct, in both cases was evidence - allegedly given by terrorist suspect Binalshibh to US authorities - not available in its entirety, but only in form of a "summary" and therefore dismissed. His evidence was exculpatory, BTW.

I have no idea why the whereabouts of Binalshibh are not disclosed ("for security reasons" ???), or why he didn't testify in person. After all, these were the only trials against alleged co-conspirators of the 9/11 attacks.

[tocqueville]

14. 90% was a qualified guess, nothing else

but 2 "success" attack out of 20 = 10%

The quoted article was the first I could find on the Internet. My statement is mostly based on interviews with DGSE agents and anti-terror experts I have seen on TV.

[mod mom]

2. Saddam didn't work, how about trying * ?

[Lexingtonian]

3. Are we winning the War On Terror yet?

Funny, I'm just not getting the Vibes of Victory.

[neweurope]

5. Of course. We Europeans are still somewhat reluctant to adopt those new

"safety laws" = loss of all civil rights. The Brits made a valiant effort but even their courts weren't all that happy with it. Our minister of the Interior, Otto Schily, would only be too happy to have PATRIOT over here, but the press and even parts of his own party, the Social Democrats, are against it so far.

But let SOMEBODY blow up Frankfurt train station...

--------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Qibing Zero]

12. Fuck. The EU needs to stand strong against this kind of stuff. nt

[neweurope]

13. Yes, it should, but I have little hope.

And I'm convinced that though it might really be Muslims who are blowing up train stations in Europe the planning and financing of their actions takes place somwewhere else...

After all there WAS an "Opereation Gladio".

------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[cantstandbush]

7. Shouldn't the US be "bracking also?" After Katrina we look like

absolute unprotected fools.

[SKKY]

15. I live in Spain, and let me tell you, they're shaking...

...in their shoes.

[Laughing Mirror]

16. Who is they? The Spanish?

The EU?

[SKKY]

17. The Spanish in general. Shortly after the Madrid bombings, they...

...located 3 of the individuals who were directly responsible in an apartment in Getafe, a neighborhood in Madrid. As the police were rushing into the building, the terrorists yelled, "We'll never forget Al Andaluz", and then blew themselves up. Al Andaluz is how they still refer to Spain, since there is a huge muslim influence going way back in history. I think the Spanish know they're on borrowed time.

[pinniped]

18. If they're just quietly warning people I don't think it will have much...

of an effect.