VZCZCXRO1548
RR RUEHLA
DE RUEHMD #1200/01 3550740
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210740Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1581
INFO RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 4270
RUEILB/NCTC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 001200 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE AND S/CT Rhonda Shore 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO NCTC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER ASEC SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN - 2009 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM 
 
REFS: (A) STATE 122733, (B) STATE 109980 
 
¶1.  (U) As requested in Refs, Post's submission for the "Country 
Reports on Terrorism" is in paragraph 2.  Embassy POC is POLOFF Hugh 
Clifton.  Telephone: 34-91-587-2294, email: CliftonLH@state.gov. 
 
¶2.  (U) 
During 2009 Spain continued to confront and suffer from both radical 
Islamic terrorism and domestic Basque terrorists.  Spain maintained 
close cooperation with the United States to investigate and 
prosecute acts of terrorism and to prevent future attacks, and 
worked hard to disrupt terrorist acts that possibly were directed 
against U.S. interests. 
 
The Government of Spain and its citizens recognized that their 
country remained a principal target of Islamic terrorist groups, who 
routinely called for the recapture of the former Muslim-controlled 
region in the Iberian Peninsula they still call al-Andalus, for the 
"liberation" of Spain's North African enclaves in Ceuta and Melilla, 
and for the Spanish military's withdrawal from multilateral forces 
in Afghanistan and Lebanon.  In October, Al-Qa'ida in the Islamic 
Maghreb's (AQIM) decision to name its propaganda unit, "al Andalus", 
reinforced the Government of Spain's concern that that Spain remains 
a priority target for AQIM. In late November, AQIM kidnapped three 
Spanish aid workers in Mauritania as a convoy from their 
Barcelona-based non-governmental organization (NGO) traveled through 
West Africa to deliver humanitarian assistance. 
 
Spain's geographical location and large immigrant population  from 
North Africa and South Asia, combined with the ease of travel to 
other European countries, made it a strategic crossroads for 
international terrorist groups.  Spain remained an important 
transit, fundraising and logistical base for terrorist organizations 
operating in Western Europe.  Spain continued to aggressively target 
terrorist recruiters and facilitators.  The Ministry of Interior 
detained 14 suspected Islamist terrorists. 
 
In fulfillment of the Council of Europe's 2008 Agreement on the 
Prevention of Terrorism, Spain's Council of Ministers in November 
approved legislative reforms in the nation's counterterrorism laws. 
These reforms criminalize such offenses as inciting terrorism as 
well as recruiting, training, indoctrinating or financing 
terrorists.  The proposal still requires parliamentary approval to 
become a binding law. 
 
Meanwhile, the Spanish judiciary remained active in combating 
radical Islamic terrorism.  In January 2008, authorities detained 
members of an alleged terrorist cell for plotting to attack 
Barcelona's transportation system.  The National Court in December 
convicted all 11 defendants, primarily Pakistanis, for membership in 
a terrorist organization, with sentences ranging from 8.5 to 14.5 
years.  A member of the cell who became the key prosecution witness 
testified that he had been a member of al-Qa'ida since 2005 and had 
received training in Pakistan.  In November, a Spanish judge 
indicted seven additional persons for their alleged roles in the 
2004 Madrid train bombings. 
 
Supporting the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 
Afghanistan, Spain supplemented its longstanding contingent of more 
than 750 troops, raising its troop levels to roughly 1,000. 
President Zapatero has voiced support for President Obama's strategy 
for increasing ISAF troop levels further and the Defense Minister 
has announced Spain's intention to send additional military and 
Civil Guard troops in 2010. 
 
On the domestic front, 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the 
founding of the terrorist group Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA), 
whose aim is to create an independent Basque state.  The group 
marked its anniversary with a series of high profile and deadly 
bombings.  On July 29, ETA detonated an explosive-laden, stolen van 
outside a Civil Guard barracks in Burgos.  The blast injured more 
than 60 Civil Guards, spouses, and children.  The following day, ETA 
murdered two Civil Guards in Mallorca with a car bomb.  ETA had 
claimed its first victim of the year weeks earlier when it used a 
car bomb on June 19 to assassinate a national police officer in the 
Basque Region. 
 
2009 was also noteworthy for the change of administration in the 
Basque regional government.  The Socialist Party, under Patxi 
Lopez's regional leadership, assumed power as the first non-Basque 
nationalist government to administer the Basque Country since the 
restoration of democracy in Spain nearly 30 years ago.  Lopez's 
administration implemented a more unequivocal counter-terrorism 
policy to confront ETA.  Meanwhile, Spain was pleased to see that 
the European Court of Human Rights in June upheld Spain's 2003 ban 
on the political party Batasuna for its ties to ETA. 
 
Building on strong results in 2008, Spain's intensified cooperation 
with the French government continued to put considerable pressure on 
 
MADRID 00001200  002 OF 002 
 
 
ETA.  Joint operations with France resulted in, among other 
successes, the detention of ETA's suspected military leader in 
April, and its alleged political chief, who also reportedly served 
as the group's communications chief, in October.  Each of these 
arrests - as well as numerous others - occurred in France with the 
participation of Spanish security forces.  As of mid-December, 
security services had arrested 122 alleged ETA members or 
associates, including 31 in France.  Joint operations also resulted 
in the seizure throughout September of more than a dozen arms 
caches. 
 
Spain participated in the Megaports and Container Security 
Initiatives, and worked hard to deny terrorists access to Spanish 
financial institutions.  Spain maintained a robust law enforcement 
and intelligence posture against terrorist financing.  Spain was a 
member of the G8 Counterterrorism Action Group and provided 
technical assistance to other countries to help build their 
institutions to counter terrorist financing.  Spain is a longtime 
member of the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force and its 
efforts to combat money laundering were considered comprehensive and 
effective.  As a participant in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), Spain 
continued to comply with requirements in the VWP law related to 
information sharing and other law enforcement and counterterrorism 
cooperation. 
 
During a visit to Washington in June, Spain's Interior Minister and 
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder signed an Agreement on Preventing 
and Combating Serious Crime that allows for the exchange of 
fingerprints and other data on known terrorists and criminals while 
protecting individual privacy.  The Interior Minister also signed a 
Letter of Intent with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano 
to expand bilateral science and technology cooperation in order to 
enhance security and combat transnational threats. 
 
CHACON