http://news.ft.com/cms/s/92f3d7aa-f4cc-11d9-9dd1-00000e2511c8.html Peace gesture amid fears on al-Qaeda >By Mark Mulligan in Madrid >Published: July 15 2005 03:00 | Last updated: July 15 2005 03:00 > <http://news.ft.com/c.gif> >
When Spain's newly elected socialist government last year offered a virtual amnesty to illegal immigrant workers, the country's large Moroccan community welcomed it as a peace gesture. Coming just a few months after the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, blamed mainly on Morocco-born extremists, it was seen as another sign that, at an official level at least, Spain knew how to distinguish between the Islamic faith and a handful of terrorists. On the street, however, community leaders reported low-level discrimination such as verbal abuse and derogatory graffiti, and there were a few cases where neighbourhood groups rallied against the opening of new mosques. Around the country's 270 mosques worshippers reported an upsurge in threats and verbal violence. Arrests by Spanish police of scores of young Muslim men in connection with the train bombings, and the September 11 attacks in the US, became an almost weekly event, raising fears Spain is an important logistical base for the al-Qaeda network. In the most recent raid, police last month detained 16 suspected Islamic activists in the biggest single operation since the weeks immediately after the March 11 bombings. Judges are currently deliberating on the case of 24 Spain-based Muslims charged with providing logistical support to the September 11 bombers, while a further 20 are in jail awaiting trial in connection with the March 11 attacks. Muslim leaders in Spain, meanwhile, have been busy trying to counter the negative image left by the attacks and subsequent arrests. After condemning the Madrid bombings, one of their first initiatives was an appeal to the government for the establishment of an Islamic commission, similar to France, whereby devotees would be allowed to elect community imams. They argued that state assistance for the scheme would reduce the community's dependence on foreign money, sourced mainly from the wealthy Gulf states. A week after the London Underground attacks, and 16 months since the Madrid bombings, an uneasy peace still reigns. Thousands of illegal Moroccan workers have taken advantage of the government's labour reforms, confirming this group as Spain's largest immigrant community. More than 500,000 Moroccans are registered with local authorities. However, despite their heavy presence and shared history with Spain Moroccans have more trouble integrating than other large immigrant groups such as Latin Americans, who share religion and a mother tongue with the host country. <http://news.ft.com/c.gif> > <http://news.ft.com/c.gif> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
