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2002 Strait of Gibraltar terror plot

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In May and June 2002, Moroccan authorities arrested several people in connection with an Al-Qaeda plot to attack American and British naval ships and shipping in the Strait of Gibraltar.[1] Three Saudi Arabians were arrested for the plot, followed by several Moroccan Islamists, many members of Salafia Jihadia.[2][3][4]

Plot and arrests

The three Saudi nationals arrested were Zuher al-Tbaiti, the suspected ringleader, and Abdullah al-Ghamdi and Hilal al-Assiri.[2] The three eventually confessed to the plot, having escaped Afghanistan in 2001 during the Battle of Tora Bora.[2] The men had reportedly been instructed to the plot by a senior aide to Osama bin Laden based in Pakistan, named "Abu Bilal", suspected by authorities to be Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri who later reportedly confessed to having been behind the plot.[2][5] The plot involved using speedboats packed with explosives in suicide bombings against American and British vessels, and possibly suicide bombings in Gibraltar.[5][6]

The Saudis had been able to integrate into Moroccan society by marrying Moroccan women through the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM).[4] The wives of two of the men were arrested, suspected of having been used as money couriers for al-Qaeda and to have been aware of the plots; one of the two women attempted to hide explosives in her apartment when she was arrested by security forces.[7] According to one official, the plot had been planned "well before" the September 11 attacks.[7] Attacks were reportedly also planned in Morocco, notably in the tourist centre of Marrakesh.[2] The three Saudi Arabians were sentenced to ten years imprisonment in February 2003.[5]

The plot was widely compared to the USS Cole bombing of 2000.[1][2][7] The bombing of USS Cole, as well as the later bombing of the French-registered oil tanker Limburg in October 2002, have also been linked to al-Nashiri.[5]

In 2003, NATO began escorting civilian ships through the Strait of Gibraltar amid fears of terrorist attacks.[8] The Strait was mentioned as a target by Al-Qaeda in 2014, when through its magazine Resurgence it urged its followers of attacks against central transport hubs to destabilise the world economy.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Morocco 'uncovers al-Qaeda plot'". BBC News. 11 June 2002.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Frantz, Douglas (24 June 2002). "U.S. Enlists Morocco's Help To Counter Terrorist Plots". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Botha, Anneli (June 2008). "Terrorism in the Maghreb: The Transnationalisation of Domestic Terrorism: Chapter 3: Terrorism in Morocco". Institute for Security Studies.
  4. ^ a b Jesús, Carlos Echeverría (15 March 2009). "The Current State of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group". Combating Terrorism Center.
  5. ^ a b c d Richardson, Michael (2004). A Time Bomb for Global Trade: Maritime-related Terrorism in an Age of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. pp. 19-20. ISBN 9789812302465.
  6. ^ "MI6 hunts terror plot network". The Guardian. 12 June 2002.
  7. ^ a b c "Wives arrested in Moroccan terror plot". CNN. 12 June 2002.
  8. ^ "Terror fears spark ship escorts". BBC News. 17 March 2003.
  9. ^ Rodríguez, Jesús (20 March 2015). "Safeguarding the Strait of Gibraltar". El País.
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