Zarqawi's European network

By Lorenzo Vidino

The waves of arrests that have taken place throughout Europe over the last few weeks have once again showed the extent of the presence of radical Islamist networks on the Old Continent. More disturbingly, they have highlighted how Abu Musab al Zarqawi and his Iraqi-based organization have become the main engine of the jihadi machine, attracting European-based networks that had referred to �traditional� al Qaeda in the past. Most recent operations include:

England: Raids
carried out in October in Derby, Croydon and Wolverhampton uncovered a network of mostly Iraqi refugees that were recruiting for Zarqawi�s group in Iraq. According to Scotland Yard, the ten were also planning attacks inside the UK, possibly using cars packed with explosives.

Bosnia/Scandinavia: In November, Mishad Becktasivic, a Swedish citizen of Bosnian descent was arrested in Sarajevo. Authorities accuse Becktasivic, who was found in possession of bomb-making materials and a suicide vest, of running a website that recruited for Zarqawi. Following leads developed from his arrest Danish authorities arrested a group of teenagers in the Copenhagen suburb of Glostrup. Authorities believe the group was planning a suicide attack against a Western embassy in Sarajevo.

France: On December 15, French authorities arrested more than a dozen men believed to be in �indirect contact� with Zarqawi. The cell, which was in possession of a kg of TNT, was made up of North African men tied to the Algerian GSPC. Recently the GSPC publicly expressed its support for Zarqawi, de facto providing the Jordanian terror mastermind with an extensive network with dozens of cells in France and other European countries.

Belgium: After the death of Muriel Degaque, the first Western female suicide bomber, and her husband in Iraq, Belgian authorities dismantled the network that had recruited them. Also in this case the link to Zarqawi�s organization has been established. Among the individual arrested there is another Belgian convert to Islam, further evidence of a growing trend. Reportedly 30-year-old Pascal Cruypeninck attempted to convince his fiance, a young Rwandan convert, to follow Muriel Degaque�s example and carry out a suicide operation.

Spain: On Monday Spanish authorities dismantled a large cell that was recruiting volunteers for Iraq. The leader of the group, a 25-year-old Iraqi, is believed to have been �very close� to Zarqawi. Interestingly, also the Spanish cell had some converts among its members. One of them was a 47-year-old Spanish man, Jos� Antonio D.M., who reportedly financed the activities of the group. The other was a 30-year-old man from Belarus named Andrey M., a.k.a. Amin Al Ansari, an expert in chemical weapons who had received his training in Chechnya and Pakistan.

Dozens of European Muslims have participated in the �Iraqi jihad.� A few of them died in operations against US forces, but others might be coming home and their intentions are easy to imagine. Movements in the direction of Europe have already been noticed. For example, American military intelligence recently informed European authorities about the death of Mohammed al Tounsi, a top lieutenant of Zarqawi. Allegedly, al Tounsi, who was killed at the Iraqi-Syrian border, was in charge of organizing the passage from Iraq to Europe of operatives trained in suicide operations. The returnees from Iraq will inevitably team up with the already well-established networks operating in Europe. The presence of such a massive and sophisticated network spanning to almost every European country should be considered the continent�s number one security threat.

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