Persecution of Non-Muslims (Spain)
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El Descanso restaurant bombing kills 18 people and injures about 100 others
Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, who is believed to have been arrested last week in Pakistan, has already been linked to the 7 July terror attacks on London.
Nasar, a 47-year-old Syrian with Spanish nationality, has now been identified by a person is in Spain's witness protection programme as being involved in the bomb attack in 1985.
The attack on the El Descanso restaurant killed 18 people and injured about 100.
The Islamic terrorist organisation Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility at the time.
But the case was closed two years later in 1987 after police failed to make any arrests.
Now a judge at Spain's Audiencia Nacional court, which deals with the top terrorist cases, has re-opened the case after a witness came forward.
The witness told police they had seen picture of Nasar in newspapers and allegedly recalled seeing someone resembling him outside the restaurant shortly before the blast.
Nasar had been accused by prosecutors in Spain of having a key role in masterminding the Madrid train bombings in March 2004, which killed 191 people.
But this link was later discounted.
Nasar lived in London from 1995 to 1998 and there have been claims that he could have been involved in setting up a "sleeper cell" in the capital.
Several of Nasar's co-accused over the Madrid bombings have links with the UK.
The two suspects were arrested this week during a raid on a house in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's south-west Baluchistan province, according to three Pakistani intelligence officials.
They were detained after a gun battle with security forces, during which a third suspect was shot dead.
Pakistani officials have not yet confirmed that Nasar, who has joint Spanish nationality, is one of the detained men.
Nasar's name has been widely mentioned in reports citing security officials speaking about the investigation into the 7 July bombings, in which 52 people were murdered on London's transport system.Expatica, November 9, 2005
At least 190 people killed and more than a thousand wounded as Muslim Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell bombs three Madrid train stations
A van containing several detonators and an Arabic-language tape of Koranic verses had been found near Madrid, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said later Thursday, announcing that new lines of investigation into the bombings were being opened.
Until that point, suspicion had focused on Spain's primary domestic terrorists, the Basque separatist group ETA.
"In this moment of pain, all Spaniards are called more than ever to end terrorism and violence," Spanish King Juan Carlos said during a televised address to the nation. "Let there be no doubt: Terrorism will never prevail."
After an emergency Cabinet meeting, a somber Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar called the attacks "mass murder" and vowed to hunt down the attackers. He reaffirmed his policy of not negotiating with ETA.
"No negotiation is possible or desirable with these assassins who so many times have sown death all around Spain," Aznar said.
Police were looking for at least two people seen jumping on and off one of the trains at a station in Madrid.
The bombers used titadine, a kind of compressed dynamite, a source at Aznar's office said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
On Feb. 29, titadine was among the explosives found packed into a van that had been pulled over outside Madrid. Two alleged ETA members were arrested, but their identities were withheld.
The February plan was to "generate a massacre in coming days, if possible, in the center of Madrid," Justice Minister Jose Maria Michavila said then.
Francisco Javier Ruperez, Spain's ambassador to the United States, told Fox News he had "no doubt" that ETA was behind Thursday's attacks.
Ruperez, who was kidnapped by ETA in 1979, admitted there was "no smoking gun" linking Al Qaeda with ETA, but added that "at the end of the day," terrorist organizations "tend to share the same sympathies ... the same aims."
A U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "it's too early to tell" who was behind the Madrid blasts, adding that "we're not ruling anything out."
Mansoor Ijaz, a foreign-affairs analyst for Fox News, said the attacks had many of the hallmarks of an Al Qaeda operation. He said it was evidence the pan-Islamic terror organization may be "joining hands with local terrorists."
"This represents a dangerous mutated version of what Al Qaeda has been doing in other parts of the world," Ijaz explained, "hitting three simultaneous targets, not necessarily in the same city but in the same area, with multiple explosions at each location."
Ijaz said Madrid was part of "an emerging pattern," citing recent multiple bombings in Iraq that may have been Al Qaeda-inspired. He noted that Spain has been a staunch supporter of U.S.-led military efforts in Iraq.
Arnold Otegi, leader of Batasuna, an outlawed Basque political party linked to ETA, denied the domestic terror group was behind the blasts and suggested "Arab resistance" elements were instead responsible.
Otegi told Radio Popular in San Sebastian that ETA always phoned in warnings before it attacked. Spain's interior minister said there had been no warning before Thursday's explosions.
"The modus operandi, the high number of victims and the way it was carried out make me think ... it may have been an operative cell from the Arab resistance," Otegi said.
. . .
A total of 10 bombs, nearly all in backpacks, exploded in a 15-minute span along nine miles of the commuter line -- running from Santa Eugenia to the Madrid hub of Atocha -- killing 190 people and injuring more than 1,240, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.
Police found and detonated three other bombs.
The blasts began about 7:40 a.m., tearing through trains or platforms on the commuter line running to the Atocha station. At least two of the bombs went off in trains at that station.
Worst hit was a double-decker train at the El Pozo station, where two bombs killed 70 people, fire department inspector Juan Redondo said. El Pozo is about six miles from Atocha.
People in tears streamed away from the station as rescue workers carried bodies covered in sheets of gold fabric. People with bloodied faces sat on curbs, using cell phones to tell loved ones they were alive. Hospitals appealed for blood donations. Buses had to be pressed into service as ambulances.
Rescue workers were overwhelmed, said ambulance driver Enrique Sanchez.
"There was one carriage totally blown apart," he said. "People were scattered all over the platforms. I saw legs and arms. I won't forget this ever. I've seen horror."
Shards of twisted metal were scattered by rails in the Atocha station at the spot where an explosion severed a train in two.
"I saw many things explode in the air, I don't know, it was horrible," said Juani Fernandez, 50, a civil servant who was on the platform waiting to go to work.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw (search) called the attacks terrorist atrocities and a "disgusting assault on the very principle of European democracy."
European Parliament President Pat Cox (search) said the bomb attacks amounted to "a declaration of war on democracy."
"No more bombs, no more dead," Cox said in Spanish before a hushed legislature in Strasbourg, France. "It is an outrageous, unjustified and unjustifiable attack on the Spanish people and Spanish democracy."Fox News, March 11, 2004
Spaniards taking dogs for walks harassed by Muslim immigrants opposed to seeing them in public, forced to set up citizen patrols to escort people walking their dogs. Muslims poison more than a dozen dogs to death
All of the dogs were poisoned in September (local media reports here, here, here, here and here) in Lérida's working class neighbourhoods of Cappont and La Bordeta, districts that are heavily populated by Muslim immigrants and where many dogs have been killed in recent years.
Local residents say Muslim immigrants killed the dogs because according to Islamic teaching dogs are "unclean" animals.
Over the past several months, residents taking their dogs for walks have been harassed by Muslim immigrants opposed to seeing the animals in public. Muslims have also launched a number of anti-dog campaigns on Islamic websites and blogs based in Spain.
In response to the "lack of sufficient police to protect the neighbourhood," 50 local residents have established alternating six-person citizen patrols to escort people walking their dogs.
In July, two Islamic groups based in Lérida asked city officials to regulate the presence of dogs in public spaces so they do not "offend Muslims." Muslims are demanding that dogs be banned from all forms of public transportation including all city buses as well as from all areas frequented by Muslim immigrants.
Muslims in Lérida say the presence of dogs violates their religious freedom and their right to live according to Islamic principles.
Dogs are not the only Islam-related controversy in Lérida, where 29,000 Muslims now make up around 20 percent of the city's total population.Soeren Kern, Hudson New York, October 6, 2011
Immigrant tries to murder his 24-year-old Christian son-in-law for marrying his 19-year-old Muslim daughter, repeatedly stabs him with a screwdriver, seven times in the head, two in the front and three in the right arm
Ilias J., 26, was arrested by Ertzaintza Irala in the neighborhood around noon. Within hours, however, was in the street by a decision of a judge. The regional police had previously warned of the potential danger of the offender, so that the prosecution requested remand. All to no avail. Ilias was free again and again to be dangerous, which soon demonstrated.
On Saturday, about 13:00, acted again, although with a different victim. This time assaulted the mother of his brother, who chooses the name of Begoña García for anonymity because he feels "much fear, panic." Also watching closely and attacked her when she was unprepared, inside your vehicle, which was double-parked. At that moment, he was preparing to make purchases at a local supermarket. "I took the car and dragged me down the asphalt, kicked me, scratched me with a punch breasts and waist and bit me. It hit me that I almost bite off a mouthful of meat, "he recalls.
The alarms went off. "After the second assault has increased risk obviously. Already on the first occasion, the prosecutor understood that there were grounds for custody, but the judge decided not well, "explains the chief prosecutor of the Court of Justice of the Basque Country. Juan Calparsoro notes that "what has been decreed is a measure of distance of 500 meters." Since then, Ilias is missing.
So Begoña Garcia is hurt and abandoned to their fate. "We have no protection, and have nothing. My son is panicked and is based tranquilizers. But the worst is that I have anger inside because the assailant released him without fulfilling even 72 hours regulations' regrets.
Garcia understands nothing. He confesses that he no longer believes in justice, and only ask: "What are you waiting the judge? What do you carry the reminder of my dead son? You know what it is to be stuck at home without going outside for fear, as if your prison? ».
For she has thrown away a golden opportunity. "This court has had on their hands when they tried to kill my son, and left him lose." What is sure is that Ilias Garcia "fulfill its mandate." Your child has the screwdriver stabbed seven times in the head, two in the front and three on the right arm. One of the shootings has affected "the nerve of the arm and no longer feels the elbow up."
For your child, everything is clear. The order to kill him from a former commander of the Chechen Army who fled to Spain last fifteen years. "My wife had to be married to a Muslim Chechnya. But the fact is that they have renounced their nationality and are currently Spanish, "he says.
Julian Gomez describes his father as a man "dominant, arrogant. Always do what you say. He is a dictator. And the boy is sent by his father to kill me. " Since August, this young man's life has changed completely Vizcaino has begun to miss work and fears the worst for him or for his young wife. "It's that we fear for our lives, because you can also go for my wife. So, if it's out of the way, for him or for me. They think that he is all settled. "Elcorreo.com (Spanish), December 27, 2011
Hundreds of Muslims besiege anti-Islamization political party leader's home, chant insults to him and his wife, make death threats against him, attack his car and smash its windows. Also attack other nearby cars and containers
For two successive days, far left organisations had organised an anti-PxC demonstration in front of the town hall in Vic, Anglada's home city. On the second day, the mob of demonstrators, said to number around three hundred and to consist mainly of North Africans, marched to Anglada's home. There they chanted insults to both he and his wife and made threats against him, including death threats. Anglada's car was attacked and its windows smashed. Other cars and containers in the vicinity was also attacked and damaged. Traffic was cut off for about half an hour.
A full report was made to the police but so far no arrests have been made. Anglada has appealed for those who care about democratic values to take a strong stand against politically-motivated violence, but the Catalan establishment seems uninterested. The media has barely reported the incident. No politicians of other parties have expressed any solidarity with Anglada and one Communist deputy even seemed to take pleasure in the incident, posting on his Twitter account that it was "the price of being a fascist".
Several PxC officials have been accosted recently, sometimes physically, by leftists or Muslims. Josep Anglada has complained that there are far-left websites whose sole function is to foment hatred against his party and to track party events and the movements of its officials, the better to facilitate physical attacks on them.
The British far-left movement, Unite Against Fascism, recently set up an affiliate in Catalonia, Unitat Contra El Feixisme, to attempt to counter the success of the anti-immigration, anti-Islam PxC.
[Source 1: Los islamistas cercan a Anglada en su propio pueblo: Cientos de magrebíes persiguen al líder de PxC por las calles de Vic, asedian su casa e increpan a Marta Riera - Alerta Digital, April 24, 2012]
[Source 2: Anglada habla en AD del asedio sufrido el martes en Vic: “Ha quedado patente la bajeza moral de la partitocracia española y sus altavoces mediáticos” - Alerta Digital, April 26, 2012]Cheradenine Zakalwe, Islam versus Europe, April 27, 2012
Muslim men attending a mosque in Majorca systematic harass and humiliate female traffic wardens doing their job, leading to the decision to withdraw all female traffic wardens from the area around the mosque
Initially it was decided that the traffic wardens would patrol the neighbouring streets in twos. But because of a lack of staff it was ultimately decided to withdraw the female traffic wardens.
The charges were disputed in the Muslim Association of the Balearics. At no time was the city council asked to withdrawn female traffic wardens, they said. They respected the women and their work. However, many visitors to the mosque were angered by the tickets. The parking situation was difficult, they said, and many of the fauthful were unemployed.In recent weeks the tensions have escalated to the point where female parking officers have been verbally abused and spit upon by Muslim immigrants seeking to force the women out of the neighborhood.
Amid a growing concern for their physical safety, female employees have now been withdrawn from the area and replaced with an exclusively male workforce. The decision was made by a private company called Dornier SA, which runs a concession to manage the public parking system in Palma.
The move has outraged Spaniards across the political spectrum. Many conservatives, who view the issue within the larger question of Muslim integration, resent what they see as the gradual encroachment of Islamic norms in towns and cities across Spain.
On the Spanish left, which has long promoted Muslim immigration and the multicultural ideal, the conflict in Palma is being viewed as an infringement of women's rights, which are supposed to be guaranteed by the Spanish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The UGT labor union, for example, has called on the Mayor of Palma, Mateo Isern, to enforce Spanish law and reassert municipal control over the Muslim neighborhood by reinstating the female officers, even if it requires that they be escorted by armed police when working in Muslim areas.
In a strongly worded statement dated September 4, UGT spokeswoman Maite Silva said the city council has an "obligation to ensure the freedom of workers to perform their duties and freedom of movement in the area." Silva said it was "intolerable" that Muslims are violating the rights of the population in general and women in particular.
She continued: "If the Palma City Council cannot prevent sex discrimination on city streets, the city should articulate the mechanisms at its disposal to separate from society those who are intolerant and who do not respect the laws of this country. It is unacceptable that in a free and democratic society female workers are prevented from doing their job because they are women."
A local activist group called Lobby de Dones (Lobby of Women) has called for political unity to address the "social alarm provoked by the withdrawal" of the female parking officers and said the city "must ensure real integration and enact all necessary measures to avoid creating ghettos."Soeren Kern, Gatestone Institute, September 11, 2012
