48.5 F
New York
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Al Qaeda Figures Arrested in Romania and Algeria

Related Articles

-Advertisement-

Must read

The British Embassy staff in Bucharest, Romania was shaken up on Sunday, December 16th, when a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist brandishing a nine-inch sword targeted their compound.

Local police pounced on Karim Friad, an Iraqi national, as he menacingly waved the blade near the building’s gates. According to The Sun newspaper of London, Romania’s SRI intelligence service have had the suspect under surveillance for days after he entered the country. Unnamed sources told the paper that his mission was to murder British or American officials. A spokesman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said, “We can confirm an individual was detained by the Romanian intelligence service. This matter is now for the SRI. We would like to thank the Romanian authorities for their help.” Intelligence sources reveal that Friad was watched earlier while in close proximity to the US embassy in Bucharest but appears to have been discouraged by the layers of security surrounding the complex. He then headed for the less secure British compound but was arrested by undercover SRI agents the moment he posed a threat to embassy staff. No British or foreign embassy employees were hurt in the incident and the British ambassador to Romania, Martin Harris was never in danger, according to media sources in the United Kingdom.

Subsequent to his apprehension by authorities, Friad was interrogated by anti-terrorist specialists. Sources close to case said, “His intentions were known the moment he entered the country — to kill American or British citizens at the embassies. He was put under 24-hour surveillance in case he led police to other terrorists inside Romania. He was being so closely watched that he never posed a serious threat but he had to be seen to commit an offence before he was arrested. It shows the Islamist terrorist threat to Britons abroad remains.”

Also on Monday, December 17th, the Reuters news agency reported that the number two in the militant Islamist organization Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has been arrested in northern Algeria. Security sources say that Salah Gasmi had been arrested on Sunday in front of a restaurant in the town of Cheurfa, about 90 miles southeast of Algiers, according to information published on the website of Tout Sur l’Algerie (TSA), an Algerian electronic daily. AQIM is a pan-Maghreb jihadist organization that has taken responsibility for a number of attacks, particularly in Algeria. It has sent fighters to Iraq and vowed to attack Western targets, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations website. TSA said that Salah Gasmi was a communications specialist considered to be the mastermind behind a series of suicide attacks in Algeria in 2007.

balance of natureDonate

Latest article

- Advertisement -