SPAIN: Spain raises security after bombs in Morocco and Algeria

Security is increased in Spain's North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla after bomb attacks in Morocco and Algeria. Al Qaeda statements have recently referred to the re-conquest of areas of the Iberian Peninsula. Spain has stepped up security in North African enclaves and southern coastal towns to counter the risk of Islamist attacks after suicide bombings in Algeria and Morocco, Spanish newspapers said on Friday (April 13). Al Qaeda has said it wants to re-establish Islamic rule in parts of Spain and Portugal and police have increased security in sensitive border areas which may have links to radical Islamists, El Pais reported, citing police sources. The Spanish government said it was maintaining the level of alert it had been on since March 11, 2004, when Islamist radicals bombed commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people. "Terrorism is an absolute priority for the Spanish government. The government, however, will not make security remarks to answer terrorist threats. The government would rather work to guarantee security for all its citizens. We must not and we should never lower our guard --we never have." Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told a Madrid news conference. Recent al Qaeda statements refer to the re-conquest of areas of the Iberian Peninsula governed at various times by Muslims for eight centuries until their defeat in 1492 by Christian forces. Spain's North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla are among the most sensitive areas, Spanish authorities say. Police in December arrested 11 suspected Islamic militants in Ceuta. Two men were held in Melilla the previous month on suspicions of having carried out bombings in Casablanca in 2003. Tens of thousands of people cross from Morocco into Ceuta and Melilla every day and monitoring them is difficult. Some travel on to Southern Spanish coastal towns such as Cadiz, Almeria, Alicante and Malaga. Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon said on Thursday (April 12) the country's North African enclaves were among al Qaeda's next targets. Spain is holding Europe's biggest terrorism trial of 29 suspected Islamists and others accused of carrying out the Madrid train bombings. Many of the bombers are suspected of coming from Spain's Arab immigrant community, dominated by more than half a million Moroccans who are Spain's largest immigrant group by country. The bombers were inspired by al Qaeda instructions to strike against Spain and other countries that supported the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. Spain withdrew troops from Iraq after the attacks but still has forces in Afghanistan. MV/AD

ITN Source | April 14, 2007

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