Counterterrorism Blog

The fruits of improved intra-European cooperation on terrorism-related investigations are starting to become more apparent, particularly in the area of combating terrorism financing. Coordinated investigations and improved information sharing are resulting in a significant increase in the number of terrorism financing related prosecutions. Last week's arrest by French and Swiss police of members of a North African terrorism financing network used to launder funds for the GSPC is a case in point. But, there is still a long way to go. EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini complained to the EU parliament last month that "The flow of information { on terrorism related issues} is still insufficient," EU countries, he said were still failing to adequately cooperate through Eurojust and were slow to process judicial requests. Further improvements were needed, he said, to enhance the exchange of information directly between police authorities in appropriate cases.

But, close cooperation between French and Swiss authorities led to the arrest June 6th of 7 suspects charged with laundering funds for the GSPC. French police, in cooperation with Swiss authorities, took into custody six individuals charged with laundering GSPC related funds generated from criminal activities outside of France. A seventh suspect was arrested in Switzerland. The group came to the attention of Swiss and French authorities following the May 12th arrest in Switzerland of 7 other suspects now charged with planning to down a El Al airplane. That case, in turn, was the result of an earlier investigation, began a year ago, into a series of thefts committed by a group of about dozen North African’s in and around Zurich. Members of the arrested group were believed tied to Mohamed Achraf, a Moroccan , who had been extradited to Spain in 2005 under a warrant charging his involvement in a conspiracy to bomb the L’Audience Nationale, Spain’s principal national criminal court.

Last month French police dismantled another GSPC financial network based in the south of France. In that action French authorities reportedly seized several million Euro’s at the residence of a local Iman of Algerian origin. The funds had ostensibly been gathered to support Algerian social assistance programs, but, in fact were being used to support terrorist recruitment, maintenance, and operational activities.

At a press conference in Paris last week, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy again underscored France’s determination to work together with other European countries and the United States to combat terrorism financing internationally. France, he said, was still being used as a principal money laundering and transit center for funds destined to the GSPC and other Islamic terrorist organizations. Since May 2002, he noted, the French Government has arrested 1,161 persons and charged 462 with terrorism related activities. At the same time Belgian authorities investigated some 10 148 reports during 2005 related to possible money laundering and terrorism financing. These reports resulted in some 25 terrorism financing cases being forwarded to the Belgium Procurer’s Office for criminal prosecution.

Earlier this year Gijs de Vries, the special Counter-Terrorism Coordinator appointed by the EU following the 2004 Madrid bombing provided his first-ever really up-beat report on terrorism cooperation between European agencies. He told a seminar in Brussels that

“For the first time European decision-makers are being provided with an integrated picture of the terrorist threat. SitCen's frequent contributions provide valuable input into the debates and policy-making in the Council. Police co-operation in the fight against terrorism has intensified in several respects, including through Europol. In 2005 Europol helped co-ordinate the breaking up of a European network of human smugglers (52 arrests), an international network of child pornographers (raids in 13 countries), and several international counterfeiting operations. Europol currently supports around 20 ''live' investigations in several Member States into Islamist terrorism and has actively supported British authorities after the 7 July 2005 attack. To facilitate police co-operation in crisis situations a network has also been created of the special intervention units in Europe's police forces.