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January 22, 2005
Fugitive Seen As Link Between 9-11, Madrid
Topics: Terrorism- Fox News
International counterterrorism authorities are looking for a
Moroccan fugitive who may have attended a pivotal meeting with the Sept. 11 (search) plotters and is believed to have played a logistical role in the train bombings last year in Madrid, Spain.
The fugitive, Amer Azizi (search), appears to connect a group of terror operatives and may exemplify al-Qaida's decentralization -- a trend about which U.S. intelligence officials have warned.
New information from federal authorities indicates Azizi may have provided lodging to people involved in the backpack bombings of the Spanish commuter trains, according to U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Coming days before Spain's national elections in March, the attacks killed nearly 200 people and are considered largely responsible for the defeat of the conservative Popular Party (search).
One of the U.S. officials also said Azizi may have met with two Sept. 11 plotters -- hijacker Mohamed Atta and coordinator Ramzi Binalshibh -- in Spain in July 2001. Investigators are trying to determine Azizi's involvement in the meeting.
A Spanish judge has indicted Azizi on charges related to the 2001 attacks, including his role in providing lodging to the conspirators. According to the Sept. 11 Commission's final report, Binalshibh said during interrogation that he and Atta met with no one else during roughly 10 days in the Tarragona region of Spain. Read more..
Back on April 14, 2004 it was reported that Azizi was daring enough to return from the Middle East, sneak into Spain and oversee an attack by a relentless network that has widened its terror campaign to Western Europe to weaken the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, investigators said. If Azizi was involved, it is likely the orders came from Zarqawi or others in al Qaeda's core leadership, they believe.
(...) "There are people who have seen Azizi here in Spain after the attacks," said a senior Spanish investigator.
(...) "It looks like he came back and may have directed the others. If he was here, his background would make it likely that he was the top guy. We have reliable witness accounts that he was here in significant places connected to the plot. The idea of Azizi as a leader has become more solid."
Posted by Hyscience at January 22, 2005 8:44 PM
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