Counterterrorism Blog

A new report is available for download from the NEFA Foundation website by Senior Investigator Douglas Farah and titled "The Madrid Indictment: Steps Toward Countering the Global Jihad Movement." The report is based primarily upon facts revealed during the recent trial in Spain of eighteen suspects alleged to be members of terrorist organizations—including several accused of assisting Al-Qaeda sympathizers based in Europe with traveling to Iraq in order to become suicide bombers. According to the final ruling of the presiding Judge Magistrate in the case, at least two such individuals succeeded in carrying out actual suicide missions in Iraq. Garzon’s intimate knowledge of the Salafist-jihadist network structure is demonstrated in his lengthy explanation of his decision. According to that decision, “The[se] people... were part of a cell that was formed, both locally and internationally, to operate in Spain (Catalonia and Madrid) and outside the country (Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, Morocco, Syria and Iraq) with a very specific purpose: to send people (mujahidin or militants) to Iraq to become involved in the terrorist activity sponsored and led by al Qaeda in Iraq. The recruits into these ranks were trained to attack vital civilian and military objectives, as well as public and private targets, or they were used as auxiliary personnel, who were equally necessary for carrying out their attacks… To obtain the cohesion necessary to achieve their ends, there are intense contacts among small groups... It is true that the conceptualization of this type of terrorism is different from that of a traditional terrorist organization, but it perfectly fits the purposes of these local cells in their loose networks, tied to international organizations (al Qaeda)."

The report can be downloaded from the NEFA Foundation website.