In fact, driven by the same ideology and sharing the same enemies, the remnants of al Qaeda in Europe and the members of al Tawheed effectively became one network, and their collaboration reconfigured the face of Islamic terrorism in Europe. Though operatives had sometimes had contacts before 9/11 as well, European investigators believe that the alliance was made official in February 2002, when Zarqawi had a meeting with leaders of North African terrorist groups that have networks across Europe.6
Hints of what this new phase signified were provided by a lengthy conversation intercepted by a bug placed inside the Via Quaranta mosque in Milan. In June 2002, less than a year after 9/11, Italian authorities listened to a disturbing conversation between Abu Omar, the imam of the Via Quaranta mosque who was allegedly kidnapped by the CIA in February of 2003 (see chapter 3), and an unidentified man visiting from Germany; authorities believe he was a high-ranking member of the al Tawheed network. The man had just given a presentation to the congregation, and Abu Omar thanked him for his speech. As they spoke, the man disclosed the plan of the organization to Abu Omar.'
Abu Omar: Congratulations, you have encouraged the youth.
Man: It doesn't stop here. There are many things to change to eliminate the enemies of God, the policies of Israel, and those who follow them.
Abu Omar: It's our wish.
Man: The 16th of last month a meeting took place in Poland with the sheikhs, the final decision was to completely change the front of the Hizb ut Tahrir and to build a new organization that takes care of the national and of the international territory, but we need, at every level, a lot of educated people.
Abu Omar: It takes time.
Man: We do have time, we proceed slowly. There are people who are already inside.
Abu Omar: How?
Man: Now the sheikh Adel and the sheikh Abdelwahab have created different groups in which there are brothers who have returned from Chechnya.
Abu Omar: And sheik Adlen?
Man: He moved before I came here. I met him in 1987. But let's go back to our topic. Our project needs people who are intelligent and very educated. As for jihad, Abu Serrah has a program to create a battalion with twenty-five, twenty-six divisions, but the project has to be carefully studied.
Abu Omar: As long as the devil does not enter in it.
Man: The first thing I tell you is that we are aware that we are under surveillance. We know that half of the brothers are in jail, included those accused of raising funds, I repeat, the project needs to be studied in the details, because the thread starts in Saudi Arabia. He who takes care of this project is Abu Suleiman, who has the same blood as the emir Abdullah. No need of comments about this.
[Both men laugh. According to Italian authorities, the "emir Abdullah" in all likelihood is Osama bin Laden; the men laugh knowing that a project taken care of by a relative of bin Laden is guaranteed success.]
Man: The mosques are too visible and have to be left alone. We need new structures, we are looking for seven to nine buildings. We have recently bought a four-story building.
Abu Omar: And we don't take care of the mosques?
Man: Yes, we do. We also finance them, but the money has to bring in more money because the goal is to form an Islamic army that will have the name of "Force 9."
Abu Omar: How are things in Germany?
Man: I can't complain. We are already ten, we are interested in Belgium, Spain, Holland, Turkey and Egypt, Italy, and France but the headquarters remain in London ... sheikh Adlen gave a lot of money, as I said earlier this project does not need further comments and words.
Abu Omar: I hope this will enlighten the youth.
Man: This is our goal, each one of us has his duty; for example, if one has at his disposal ten operatives, he is their chief and it's up to him to decide whether to organize them in smaller groups or to keep them the way they are. The important thing is to use the brain.
Abu Omar: Even if they are foreigners [i.e., non-Arabs]?
Man: It's not important, we need foreigners as well, we have Albanians, Swiss, Brits ... as long as they have a high cultural level. In Germany we have interpreters that translate books, we have them also in telecommunications, also in Austria, the important thing is that their faith in Islam is sincere.
Abu Omar: We have never had any problems with them, to the contrary we have noticed that they are very enthusiastic and participate fully.
Man: Then you and I are not those who decide whether to take them or not, those who decide are those from Hizb al Tawheed.
Abu Omar: I am really excited about this program.
Man: Never think about the money, because the money of Saudi Arabia is your money; the important thing is not to run, because everything is new, there is still something old, but the education is all new. Whoever wanted to create this program is close to the emir Abdallah [again, bin Laden] and we are grateful to the emir Abdallah. Get ready.
Abu Omar: I am ready
Man: We are also waiting for the sheikh from Iraq
Abu Omar: Isn't he the one from Algeria?
Man: The one that was in London before.
Abu Omar: I heard there are some problems with the sheikh Wahab.
Man: I don't think so.
Abu Omar: I just heard a rumor.
Man: Beware of the Internet, it scares. These are the first instructions of the sheikh Adlen, we must ignore the Internet. If you communicate through the Internet use another language ... the main issue is that every group protects the other group without destroying each other, and every group has to be far from the other. Chechnya takes care of the education [military training] of the youth, another group takes care of information. Even for the air we breathe a group takes care of it. There is just one condition. In each reunion one or two people of the group participate. Where they speak about their situation and listen to the others. The important thing is that these people are at the same level as the others ... and everybody should know about everything. We all are one and God is one.
Abu Omar: We fight for the word of God, also through paper.
Man: Yes, this is also among our projects. There are different information that I can't give you until I see you next time, God willing.... We need businessmen, professors, engineers, doctors, instructors, but on a point ... for this cause we have the money, but the money needs to bring more money, as I told you before I am not the one making decisions. Who fails pays according to the sharia [Islamic law] and there are exams to pass. I take care of my city in Germany. The other in Algeria takes care of his city. Every city had its disciples. It's him, the kaid [military chief], who chooses them. The responsibility is all his, if one fails it's the kaid who is responsible. But dear Abu Omar, it's not the quantity but the quality; even if they are ten it's enough. Because you can study them, understand them psychologically. You do like in school, there is the kindergarten, elementary school, middle and high school. At every step there is an exam. But the important things are security, prudence, intelligence, order, and communications, which have to be done through a messenger or we speak in another language [i.e., in code], so we have to study this point carefully, because every group refers to its region. For example: Italy is part of Austria, Germany is part of Holland, Holland is part of London. This is just an example because also for this we need lessons because prudence is what saves you. Take for example the case of Ismail, who has been in Holland since 1979 and nobody knows who he is ... I repeat, the organization needs to be impeccable when it comes to secrecy.
Abu Omar: And I ... what do I take care of?
Man: You sell, buy, print, register, then the person who is interested comes to you and talks to you personally ... as long as you don't mix things, and it is necessary to avoid easy arrests, we know very well that you and I and the others we are all under surveillance. I know that I am followed by the police, but I fool them, the important thing is to find a way to convey the message to the others. Dear Abu Omar, to fight the enemies of God we need technolog
y.
Abu Omar: It's true.
Man: For this reason the sheikhs insist we need to have very educated people.
Abu Omar: Yes, yes.
Man: We need to have a lot of intelligence. If there is the sheikh Abu Khalil, the sheikh Abu Qatada8 or the sheikh Aden the Syrian that are under surveillance, there are other people in their place who run the situation. Secondly, we need to be very careful in the way we speak, you don't have to throw the words around like that, the tongue has to be controlled. Our groups are spread from Algeria throughout the world. For example, one from Poland can direct the group perfectly, like sheikh Abdulaziz, he has a group, it's called Katilea group, his organization is amazing, one can communicate even through a book.
Abu Omar: What, he wrote a book?
Man: Even more. He, in the books ... they are books, but they are full of dollars.
Abu Omar: He sends dollars in the books?
Man: Yes, also other things.
Abu Omar: How, in the mail?
Man: Yes, also in the mail.
Abu Omar: So easily?
Man: Yes. Because that is not Europe. Now Europe is controlled in the air and on the ground, but in Poland, Bulgaria, and in countries that are not members of the European Community, everything is easy. First of all they are corrupt, you can buy them off with ten dollars. I get the substance over there and I send it here and there, those countries are less controlled, there are not too many eyes. But the country where everything starts is Austria. There I meet all the sheikhs and all our brothers are there. There it has become the country of international communications. It has become the country of the contacts, as I told you before, all the contacts come either from Austria or from Poland. The most convenient country is Austria and the countries neighboring it. If you are wanted, you have two possibilities: either you hide there in Austria or in the mountains. Especially the Sahafi mosque, the old mosque, has been a very hot mosque for a long time, very hot9 ... they are very close, especially after the fact that happened recently.
Abu Omar: There is only one God and Mohammed is his Prophet.
Man: I will send you the explanation with a brother, just pay attention to the union and to the Hizb al Tawheed.
Abu Omar: I only need directions.
Man: God willing you will get them. It is just a matter of days, because at this moment the sheikhs are traveling in Algeria, Morocco, and Bosnia. With calm and patience, you never have to run. Also the people who are with you, each line has its duty. The youth and jihad ...
In these words, Italian counterterrorism analysts heard an explanation of "the birth of a new transnational terrorist structure, whose branches extend to our country, made up of members with ideological and military preparation, divided in cells and operationally subjected to the decisions of al Tawheed."10 The al Tawheed network was joining forces with the old al Qaeda networks that had operated in Europe for a decade, creating a new and better organized apparatus.
The conversation alarmed Italian authorities, who placed Abu Omar under close watch. Abu Omar, whose real name is Nasr Osama Mustafa Hassan, was already well known to DIGOS (Italian intelligence, Divisioni Investigazioni Generali e Operazioni Speciali) as a seasoned member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad who had fought in Afghanistan against the Soviets. When the Afghan conflict ended, Abu Omar, like many other Egyptian militants, moved to Albania, where he was arrested in 1996 for involvement in a plan to kill the Egyptian foreign minister during his visit to Tirana. Following his expulsion from Albania, Abu Omar traveled to Germany and finally to Italy, where he received political asylum in May 1997. After living in central Italy and serving as an imam near Rome for a few years, Abu Omar moved north to Milan in the summer of 2000. His move was timed to coincide with the arrival of Mahmoud Abdelkader Es Sayed."
Once in Milan, Abu Omar immediately settled in Es Sayed's apartment and the two began working together closely. They both maintained ties to the ICI, but they made the newly founded mosque on Via Quaranta their headquarters. Es Sayed, who was the leader of the Via Quaranta mosque, appointed Abu Omar as its imam. Abu Omar immediately established strong contacts with other militants operating in Milan, particularly with Abdelhalim Remadna.12 The wave of arrests that hit Milan's Islamist community in the months following 9/11 spared Abu Omar, but the careful monitoring of his activities enabled authorities to understand the changes taking place in the network both in Milan and in Europe.
Just a few days after his conversation with the unidentified al Tawheed member from Germany, Abu Omar left the Via Quaranta mosque because of his strong disagreements with the mosque's leadership, who accused him of endangering the mosque by hosting veterans of the Chechen conflict inside the mosque and by openly fund-raising for "the mujahid brothers" and for the "families of the martyrs." 13 The director of the mosque, (rightly) convinced that these activities would attract the authorities' attention, repeatedly asked Abu Omar to stop; after his continued refusals, the cleric was asked to leave his position.
As soon as he left the mosque, Abu Omar was contacted by two Kurdish men living in the small city of Parma, one hundred sixty kilometers southeast of Milan, who had learned of his falling out with the Via Quaranta mosque. Mohammed Tahir Hammid and Mohammed Amin Mostafa were already known to Italian authorities, for they had previously been in contact with Milan operatives investigated in the past, including Remadna, Yassine Chekkouri, and Es Sayed. The two Kurds invited the cleric to Parma for Friday prayers, mentioning the possibility of hiring him as imam of their mosque. Under the watchful eyes of Italian agents, on August 9, 2002, Abu Omar took a train from Milan's Central Station; an hour later he arrived in Parma, where the two Kurds picked him up in a red Volkswagen Golf.14 As they monitored this apparently innocuous visit, Italian investigators uncovered a network that reached from Milan to Baghdad, from Istanbul to Hamburg.
Abu Omar's trip to Parma prompted Italian authorities to look into the activities of the two Kurds, who had been only peripheral figures in earlier investigations and had been left free to operate. The new information gathered by DIGOS suggested that the men were key members of Ansar al Islam, sent to Europe to recruit and raise funds for the group. Months of wiretapping and patient tailing revealed that they were at the center of a highly sophisticated network that was recruiting militants in Europe to train in the Ansar al Islam camps in northern Iraq in preparation for the US invasion of that country.15 The network, coordinated by Zarqawi in Iraq, operated in several European countries and drew on the structure established by al Qaeda before 9/11. Indeed, the Kurds were simply a new element in a well-oiled machine that had worked smoothly for years. While the destination was different, the modus operandi, centers of operation, and the key recruiters (for the most part) were the same as al Qaeda had used to send militants to Afghanistan before 9/11.
Authorities discovered that the two Kurds were in frequent contact with Merai,16 an Egyptian man living in Milan whom they knew had collaborated closely with Remadna and Chekkouri-formerly al Qaeda's top recruiters in Italy. In providing some help to Remadna and Chekkouri in their recruiting efforts, Merai gained significant knowledge in the art of facilitating travel for volunteers of jihad. Merai and the two Kurds had set up an elaborate scheme that sent volunteers from Europe to the camps in northern Iraq through Turkey or Syria, where human smugglers linked to the group helped them enter Iraq.17
After Remadna and Chekkouri were arrested in November of 2001, Merai, who also made the ICI his headquarters, became Italy's main recruiter. Merai had no shortage of volunteers, whose numbers were swelling as the war on terror continued, but he needed to find new places where they could train. The two Kurds from Parma provided this muchneeded alternate location. The same network that had recruited for Afghanistan began sending militants to Iraq, where they reached the Ansar al Islam camps for training by Zarqawi. Moreover, Zarqawi's European network became involved in the operation, as its German-based al Tawheed operatives cooperated with Kurdish members of Ansar al I
slam in Munich. Individual affiliations often became blurred as Ansar al Islam members in Italy and Germany, together with al Qaeda and al Tawheed recruiters in Germany, Italy, and France, labored to send volunteers to Iraq's Ansar al Islam camps that now hosted al Tahweed and al Qaeda operatives. Zarqawi and Ansar al Islam provided new energy and a new destination to the old and well-established al Qaeda network in Europe. All were working together in harmony as they pursued a common goal.
The first group of militants from Europe was allegedly sent by Merai and the Kurds to Iraq in the fall of 2002, when eight Tunisians and three Iraqis left Europe from the French city of Marseilles for Damascus. The men then traveled to Iraq, using forged Moroccan passports provided by Merai and relying on a scheme conceived by Mullah Fouad, a Kurd who was the top Ansar al Islam operative in Damascus. To cross the SyrianIraqi border without raising the suspicions of Iraqi security guards, they declared that they were Shiite pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Karbala.'8 Their claim is ironic in light of the later bombings of Shiite mosques in Karbala, carried out by Ansar al Islam as part of the group's war against Shiite Muslims.
The first group was followed by many other volunteers from European countries, including Germany, France, Holland, Sweden, and Finland. In Damascus the network could count on Mullah Fouad, who had spent time in Italy with the two Kurds from Parma before returning to Syria in the fall of 2002. Now he worked closely with them and with Merai, coordinating the movements of the volunteers going to Syria. His long experience with Ansar al Islam made him a revered figure in the network. Italian authorities intercepted communications between the men as they exchanged phone numbers of contacts, requested money or documents, and talked about the passage of the groups of volunteers. At the same time that Mullah Fouad was giving orders to the operatives in Europe, he was in direct contact with the Ansar al Islam camps in Kur distan and with Abu Musab al Zarqawi, with whom he even shared a telephone card.19
Al Qaeda in Europe Page 25
