Guinea-Bissau Narco Nation feeds Growing Terrorist operations into Spain and Europe

multiple news wires Africa, Spain, France | 02-10-2008 | biranbaldwin

[Brian_Baldwin]

Spain – take notice! Guinea-Bissau Narco Nation - Corruption that feeds Growing Terrorist operations into Spain and Europe

Freepers should keep an eye on Guinea Bissau. Which Presidential candidates even have awareness of this threat? It’s like the days when conservatives were warning about “Usama” back before 911, that the Islamic terrorists hit the towers once but didn’t finish the job, and they were sure to come back.

Now keep an eye on the news. Cocaine trafficking is becoming the biggest source of income to Guinea-Bissau, with billions of dollars flowing through a poor nation and Guinea Bissau is the ideal springboard for Latin American drug lords which use the nation to smuggle large quantities of cocaine and drugs into Europe, in particular with entry point into Spain.

Of course, the conditions within Guinea Bissau, one of the world’s 20 poorest countries, make the state a weak pawn to criminal and terrorist elements with officials susceptible to bribery and corruption, including not only the bribery and influence of South American and Mexican cartels but of Middle Eastern terrorist organizations which have now been linked with such cartels or even directly seeking opportunities within West Africa as staging operations and transmits into Europe, again with entry points by way of Spain.

Spain should take warning of this threat. In the January 14th, 2008 Reuters report (LISBON Reuters) arrests were made in Guinea-Bissau of five suspected al Qaeda members, the suspects linked to the killing of four French tourists. “The first two suspects have admitted that they are fighters of al Qaeda, that their motivations are political, and that they are hostile to the West," the deputy director of Guinea-Bissau's judicial police, Edmundo Mendes, said.

Newswire reports include: Mauritanian prosecutors have said at least two of the three suspected killers were linked to an Algeria-based group formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). The GSPC changed its name to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb a year ago after allying itself to mainstream al Qaeda. In September, al Qaeda's second in command urged north African Muslims to "cleanse" their land of Spaniards and French.

350km of this nation’s Atlantic coastline has nearly 90 uninhabited islands.

The killings raised fears that Islamic extremists linked to al Qaeda, who have carried out attacks in Morocco and Algeria, may be trying to extend their operations southwards into Sub-Saharan West Africa. The incident led to the cancellation of the 2008 Lisbon-Dakar rally due to take place in January.

There is the forthcoming Organization of Islamic Conference due to be held in Dakar Senegal on the 13th of this coming March, which is the neighbor of Guinea Bissau. We have Senegal's Foreign Minster Tijan Gazebo on Wednesday in Dakar in a meetings with IRI Ambassador talking up Iran's key role in Islamic World and the Organization of Islamic Conference, with Gazebo stressing that Senegal attaches great importance to its relation with Iran, stating that he would soon visit Iran to discuss issues of mutual interest. Two months ago in December of 2007, Guinea-Bissau became the third country on the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) agenda, joining Burundi and Sierra Leone, after the Security Council backed a request from the country, which has been beset by problems stemming from drug trafficking and organized crime.