http://worldpoliticswatch.com/article.aspx?id=179#
2004 Attacks Still Poison Spain's Politics Roland Flamini | Bio <http://worldpoliticswatch.com/author.aspx?id=58> | 15 Sep 2006 World Politics Watch Exclusive <http://www.worldpoliticswatch.com/> SEVILLE, Spain -- "Ridiculous! Nobody takes that seriously," laughs Santiago, the young Spanish tourism executive, when asked to comment on Osama bin Laden´s references to reclaiming Spain´s once Moorish province of Andalusia. "The city of Seville expelled the Muslims in 1248, even before they were driven out of the rest of Andalusia. The threat is not worth discussing." Bin Laden has in the past called for an Islamist takeover of what he calls "al-Andaluz" as the center of a restored Caliphate, a single Islamic state, one nation under Allah stretching from Indonesia to southern Spain that would contain 1.5 billion people. Far fetched as this vision seems to westerners, a terrorist attack in Spain two years ago, widely attributed to al-Qaida, bin Laden´s terrorist organization, has left a stubborn scar on that country´s politics that refuses to heal. The visual reminders of the Muslim presence linger in this historic city, incidentally. Seville Cathedral, while a marvel of Catholic splendor internally, is dominated by a towering square minaret-turned-bell tower. The high, onion-shaped arched entrance is another remnant of the mosque that once stood on the same ground, with a massive wooden door covered in familiar oriental geometric carvings. In the Alcazar, Seville´s beautiful Islamic palace, a current exhibition celebrates the life and work of Ibn Khaldun, the 15th century Arab historian. The exhibition was opened by Spain´s King Juan Carlos in the presence of several Arab heads of state, reflecting Madrid´s sensitivity to its closeness to North Africa, to its large Muslim community, and the role of Islam in its early culture. In an odd twist, workers building Seville´s new streetcar system this week accidentally unearthed a hitherto undetected Islamic burial ground that Ibn Khaldun mentions in his writings. Archeologists immediately moved in, and identified human remains and tombstones with inscriptions in Arabic. But the more sinister echo of Islamic militant claims on their old Iberian stamping ground was the terrorist attack on Madrid´s Atocha Station on March 11, 2004. A series of bomb blasts ripped through two trains carrying early morning commuters, leaving 191 dead and over 1,500 injured. In a general election three days later, Spain´s strongly pro-U.S. conservative government was decisively defeated by the Socialist Party led by Jose Luis Rodrigo Zapatero, who lost no time in carrying out his election pledge to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq. Subsequent investigation by the new government quickly led to the arrest of a number of Arab suspects, and two years later 13 men, including a Syrian, Moroccans and Algerians, are on trial in Madrid charged with the terrorist act. But that has not stopped the heated political debate on how the attack impacted on the election. Conspiracy-minded Spaniards suspect that the bombings were not an act of Islamic terrorism, but part of a political or police plot to unseat the conservative Popular Party (PP). The PP itself does not go so far, but charges that the governing Socialists (the PSOE) are concealing the facts. This week, for the first time, the PP accused the government openly in parliament of a cover-up. "You are determined to hide the truth," Eduardo Zaplana, the opposition parliamentary spokesman, told Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba. Zaplana cited the U.S. probe into 9/11 as an example of an open investigation that Spain should follow. "That´s respect for democracy," he said. The opposition´s charges are not specific, and have been strongly rejected by the government. A top police officer, now retired, who was involved in the investigation, calls the PP´s heavy-handed hints at conspiracy "an outrage born of sick minds." But they create in many minds an atmosphere of unease about the true nature of the attack, and furthermore have poisoned the political atmosphere. The question from the start has been who was doing the covering up. In the few days left to it after the election, the outgoing government originally blamed the Basque separatist terror group ETA for the Atocha bombing, even though there were early indications of Islamist involvement. The government apparently feared that an Islamic attack would scare frightened voters towards the Socialists, who were strong opponents of the Iraq war and considered "soft on Islam." There are indications that many non-Socialist supporters were already leaning in that direction because of the growing unpopularity of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar´s strong alliance to President George Bush, a situation oddly echoed today by British Prime Minister Tony Blair´s unpopularity in his own country. [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: osint@yahoogroups.com 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/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> 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/
