‘ISIS collaborator’ arrested in Majorca after posing DIRECT THREAT to tourists
From the Express and the Local
The unnamed Moroccan-born suspect is said to have had close links with leaders of the terrorist organisation based in Syria. He was held in a raid early this morning at an undisclosed destination in the holiday island’s capital Palma.
Spanish Interior Ministry officials said the police operation had permitted “the rapid neutralisation of a direct threat” and described the suspect as a “threat to national security.” The operation was coordinated by a judge at Spain’s national criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, in conjunction with state prosecutors.
A statement released by the Interior Ministry, in which it referred to ISIS by its acronym Daesh, said: “The detainee, a Moroccan man resident in Palma, had a close relationship with the terrorist organisation Daesh …
“The investigation has shown that the suspect maintained close links with well-known terrorist leaders currently based in Syria and working for the terror organisation Daesh, whose job it was to facilitate the arrival of new combatants to war zones as well as providing instructions and resources to carry out terror attacks in Spain or other European countries.
“The police operation, which has permitted the rapid neutralisation of a direct threat, remains open.”
In other news the Italian authorities have dismissed a report in the German newspaper Bild that ISIS are planning more attacks on Mediterranean beach resorts. From the Italian edition of The Local
Italy has dismissed a report in a German newspaper warning that terrorists were planning attacks on beaches in Italy, Spain and France.
In a sensational report on Tuesday, the German daily, Bild, said that jihadists were planning to pose as refreshment sellers at beach resorts in the three countries, before detonating suicide vests and bombs planted beneath sun loungers.
A source at Italy’s anti-terrorism department dismissed the report when contacted by The Local.
Meanwhile, a source at the Italian intelligence services was quoted by Ansa as saying the claims were “groundless” and that “there is no specific terror alert on Italian beaches”. Which technically is consistent with the Bild report that the prime targets were the Costa del Sol in Spain and the French Riviera.
Bild claimed the information came from Italian and German secret agents, with the alleged attacks planned at resorts in southern France, Spain’s Costa del Sol, and unnamed Italian beaches.
The newspaper also quoted Seck Pouye, the chief of police in Senegal, who said that the terrorists, from the Boko Haram Islamist group in Nigeria which allies itself with Isis, planned to radicalize regular travellers between Senegal and Europe to carry out the attacks.
Threats of exploding sun loungers and cunningly disguised ice cream salesmen may sound like the stuff of a comedy sketch but I bet the holidaymakers in Tunisia last year thought they were safe.