WHO'S YOUR DAHDAH?:

Syrian Behind Train Attack, Spain Says (RENWICK McLEAN, 10/26/04, NY Times)

A Syrian jailed since 2001 and thought to be a major operative for Al Qaeda has been identified as the prime mover behind the March 11 terror attacks in Madrid, a high-ranking intelligence official told the Spanish Parliament on Monday.

While Spanish officials have identified several different men as possible masterminds during the past few months, the remarks on Monday about the Syrian, Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, also known as Abu Dahdah, represent the clearest statement of responsibility yet made by a senior investigator.

"It is very clear to me, that if by mastermind we mean the person who has put the group together, prepared the group, trained it ideologically, sent them to Afghanistan to be prepared militarily for terrorism," the investigator, Rafael Gómez Menor, said, "that man is Abu Dahdah, without any doubt."

Remember how when they tucked tail and ran from Iraq the new Spanish government swore to redouble its efforts against al Qaeda remnants, who are in Afghanistan/Pakistan (kind of like Senator Kerry says he'd do)? You don't read much about their successes, do you?

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 26, 2004 4:47 PM