Report: Group Claims Truce With Spain

Yahoo! News ^ | March 17, 2004 | AP

[El Conservador]

CAIRO, Egypt - The Islamic militant group that claimed responsibility for last week's Madrid train bombings has called a truce with Spain to give the new government time to withdraw troops from Iraq (news - web sites), a London-based Arabic-language newspaper said Wednesday.

The Al Hayat daily newspaper said it received a statement from the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri, which earlier said it orchestrated the bombings to punish Spain for supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The blasts killed 201 people.

But the United States believes the group, which takes its name in memory of al-Qaida's fallen No. 3, lacks credibility and its ties to al-Qaida are tenuous. In the past, the group has made claims about various events to which it was not connected — such as blackouts last year in the United States, Canada and London.

A U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday the latest statement should be viewed with skepticism because the group has made false claims in the past. The official said it was unclear what relationship the group has with al-Qaida.

"They claim to be al-Qaida's voice, but they're not," the official said.

On Wednesday, Moroccan authorities told The Associated Press that emerging evidence in the Madrid attacks points toward Ansar al-Islam, a guerrilla group blamed for terrorist strikes in Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Morocco.

Some of the other Islamic groups believed to have a link to the bombings are Salafia Jihadia and Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group.

Spanish legislator Gustavo de Aristegui, a parliamentary spokesman for the ruling but outgoing Popular Party, said the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri is "not capable of committing these attacks, much less of declaring a truce."

The group "is, according to anti-terrorism experts, not a very reliable terrorist organization because they have never really acted in any terrorist act," he told the AP.

The group's latest statement, dated March 15, will be published in Thursday's editions of Al Hayat. The paper did not provide a text Wednesday.

An editor at the Saudi-owned paper said the group announced it was stopping all activity on Spanish territory until further notice to gauge the intentions of the new government of prime minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The group said the Madrid attacks destroyed one of the evil pillars of the Crusaders, according to the newspaper editor.

Zapatero said Wednesday the incoming government intends to stick by its pledge to withdraw the 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq by June 30. He also criticized the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, saying it was "turning into a fiasco."

Outgoing Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, a strong supporter of President Bush (news - web sites) in the invasion of Iraq, lost the Spanish parliamentary elections Sunday — three days after the bombings.

Last week, another Arabic newspaper, Al-Quds al-Arabi, said it received a claim of responsibility issued by the same group in the name of al-Qaida.

Spanish authorities increasingly suspect an al-Qaida-linked cell carried out the bombings.

An Arab phone salesman from Morocco, Jamal Zougam, is emerging as the key suspect in the train bombings. He was arrested two days after the attacks.

Spanish police were interrogating two other Moroccans, including Zougam's half brother, and two Indian men.

The Spanish daily El Pais reported that police also suspect five other Moroccans, who remain at large, of participating in the bombings.

[El Conservador]

How nice of them!!! (/sarcasm)

[BikePacker]

Hmmm... so I guess Spain is now a collaborator.

[Dog]

Al Qaeda just rubbed Spain's nose in it..

How does it feel Spain.......you belong to Al Qaeda??

[wagglebee]

What was it Neville Chamberlain said about "Peace in out time"? These idiot liberals will believe anything that means they don't have to actually fight evil in the world. I'm sure that Clinton thought leaving Mogadishu in disgrace would win him a lot of good will with bin Laden.

[Guillermo]

LOL. Wait till these idiots in Spain find out that the Mohammedan tererorists won't be happy until they reclaim Al-Andaluz and all Spanish women are in burkas.

[VadeRetro]

Lucky Spanish! The jihadis just killed 200 of them and are letting them off with a truce, since they were nice enough to go Socialist-Appeaser in the ensuing election.

Whose mettle will be tested next?

[bayourod]

I hope CNN will have live coverage of the Truce signing ceremony.

They can interview each of the terrorists and let each one explain how and where he planted his bomb and how many people his bomb killed.

Rodney will probably be there saying "See we really can all get along together." Beautiful, just f**ing beautiful.

[Bismarck]

The Socialists are Al Qaida's USEFUL IDIOTS. As simple as that. Hell, I honestly even dislike socialists more than I dislike the mohammedans.

[Robert_Paulson2]

they cannot enjoy the privilege of being burqua'd until the also undergo the radical clitorectomy, removal of all the externally sensitive sexual organs on the female... required of burqua babes of TRUE islamic purity....

they can also get the brutal near-death experience of a violent islamic gang rape treatment as their precursor to the clitorectomy. welcome to Islam, Spain.

[Democrap]

A little more of what they said: Reuters

WE WANT BUSH TO WIN

The statement said it supported President Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader "more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom."

In comments addressed to Bush, the group said:

"Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps because he and the Democrats have the cunning to embellish blasphemy and present it to the Arab and Muslim nation as civilization."

"Because of this we desire you (Bush) to be elected."

The group said its cells were ready for another attack and time was running out for allies of the United States.

"Whose turn is it next? Will it be Japan or America, or Italy, Britain or Oslo or Australia?" the statement said, adding Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were also targets.

[Starve The Beast]

...I honestly even dislike socialists more than I dislike the mohammedans.

Know what? I think that, if you look at the whole problem, the global Left is a bigger problem. If the West could get solidarity, I think we could wipe out Islamic terrorism (down to a very small, underground level) comparatively quickly. But it's so important for the Left to oppose anything that the West (particularly the US) does to defend itself that we can't present AQ with the united front we need to defeat it.

[Mo1]

[Iscool]

Amazing...The country of Spain surrendered to a handful of terrorists...

[Tacis]

What a great scam!! They are incapable of doing anything so they declare a truce. They don't do anything else, claiming things on the other side are going well. Then, when they have capablity either regained or constructed anew during the lull, they make new demands and threats. Their objective, of course, is to be invited in as co-decision makers much like "the leaders of the black community" who pretended to be able to influence the black mobs or potential black mobs in, say, Detroit.

The US based kerrorists will say, "See, it is peaceful when you work together." And, as these Muslim kerrorists do blow up people (Israelis or US athletes in Athens), each kerrorist group will deny any responsibilty, pointing the finger at some obscure faction.

[HarryCaul]

The ideas in the letter sound a lot more like western left ideas than they do islamic militant ideas.

I'm considering it a fake til proven otherwise.

[dawn53]

Another Freeper, Libertina, posted that I should look up this poem by Kipling ( I was asking some questions about a presentation my son had to make in college.) Anyway, looked it up. Boy does it apply to this truce.

Dane-geld by

Rudyard Kipling


It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation,
To call upon a neighbour and to say:—
“We invaded you last night—we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away.”
And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you’ve only to pay ’em the Dane-geld
And then you’ll get rid of the Dane!

It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say:—
“Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away.”

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray,
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to says:—

“We never pay any one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost,
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!”

[#3Fan]

Al Qaeda just rubbed Spain's nose in it.. How does it feel Spain.......you belong to Al Qaeda??

The word "beeyach" comes to mind. I guess most of those with any guts on continental Europe immigrated here a long time ago diluting their gene pool.

[GeorgiaYankee]

The terrorists say they want Bush to win.

Yeah, sure. I believe them. They've never lied before, have they?

They know Americans well enough to send a little reverse psychology our way.

[Liberty Valance]

TRUCE? @!#$#$@@ - 200 Spaniards were murdered and over 1400 injured badly. Hunt down the perps, kill them all. Anything less is capitulation to terrorism.

[dougherty]

Spain has proven that France is not the only Euro nation of cowards.