Four men behind what officials describe as the most serious Islamist
terrorist plot ever hatched in Scandinavia were convicted of the plot
Monday in a courthouse in Glostrup, just outside of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Three Swedish nationals
and a Tunisian resident of Sweden were found guilty of targeting
Jyllands Posten, the Copenhagen-based newspaper responsible for
publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
The court ruled there was no doubt about their plan to attack and sentenced each of the men to 12 years in prison.
Counterterrorism officials in the United States and Scandinavia believe the plot was directed by al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan.
Authorities contend the four suspects planned a gun attack on the newspaper, to be followed by "the execution" of hostages.
It is possible a reception due to be attended by Denmark's crown prince in the same building
as the newspaper was the intended target, a prosecutor said in court.
The reception was to be held hours after the terrorist cell was
arrested, but the prosecutor said there was no evidence the men were
specifically targeting the crown prince.
The cell's plans were thwarted by a joint operation of Swedish and Danish security
services, which tracked the suspects in December 2010 as they drove
from Sweden to Denmark with a submachine gun, a silencer, and several
dozen 9mm submachine gun cartridges, authorities say.
The four men convicted --
Mounir Dhahri, 46, a Tunisian citizen; Munir Awad, 31, of Lebanese
descent; Sahbi Zalouti, 39, of Tunisian descent; and Omar Aboelazm, 32,
of Egyptian descent -- are charged with plotting to kill a large number
of people at the newspaper. They have denied the charges.
Western security services
believe the plot was part of a broader al Qaeda conspiracy, authorized
by Osama bin Laden, to strike Europe with operations mirroring the
Mumbai, India, attack in November 2008, which killed nearly 200 people.
Dhahri, the suspected
ringleader of the cell, Awad, and Zalouti had all traveled to Pakistan
in early 2010. Awad and Zalouti, traveling separately, were arrested by
Pakistani authorities in August 2010 before they could reach the North
Waziristan region and were subsequently deported, according to a Swedish
counterterrorism source.
During the trial,
prosecutors pointed to a map showing Miramshah in North Waziristan and
told the jury the plot had links to Pakistan, according to Elisabeth
Haslund, a reporter for Berlingske newspaper, who attended the
proceedings. But while the court ruled that Dhahri spent time in
Waziristan, few details emerged in court on his movements there.
The court heard that
Zalouti admitted to Swedish police he wired money from Sweden via
Western Union to Dhahri in Bannu, a town bordering North Waziristan,
according to Haslund.
Dhahri evaded capture in Pakistan, and he is believed to have received training there prior to returning to Europe shortly before the group began to plot their attack, according to the source.
At trial, it was revealed that Dhahri traveled back from Pakistan through Athens
and Brussels, where Zalouti picked him up in a car. According to
prosecutors, they then traveled to Copenhagen to case targets including
the Jyllands Posten before traveling on to Stockholm.
Awad, the Lebanese-born
suspect, had long been on the radar screen of Swedish counterterrorism
services. He was suspected of having joined up with jihadist militants
in Somalia in 2006 before fleeing the country when Ethiopian troops launched a military operation against Islamist militants there, according to a Danish security source.
By October 2010, Swedish
security services had begun tracking the cell, placing listening
devices in the men's apartments. A Swedish counterterrorism source told
CNN the group did not settle on attacking the newspaper until shortly
before the planned attack, and often squabbled.
Prosecutors stated that
in the weeks before the plot was thwarted, there were 75 calls from a
SIM card used by Dhahri to a number in Pakistan linked to "Masror," an
individual suspected of involvement in terrorist activity. In court
Monday, state prosecutor Gyrithe Ulrich argued the men deserved a
significant prison sentence because they were "fulfilling a task ordered
from Pakistan" and came close to carrying out their operation,
according to Haslund.
On the evening of
December 28, 2010, three of the cell members set off from Stockholm in a
rental car with Dhahri at the wheel, authorities said. Security
services continuously monitored their progress, including from the air.
Zalouti bailed from the journey at the last minute, and was later
arrested in Stockholm, according to court documents.
The court heard that
after his arrest, he claimed to Swedish police he was aware that Dhahri
-- his best friend -- and the others were planning an attack on the
Jyllands Posten newspaper, but wanted out, according to Haslund.
Taking the stand in
court, Zalouti said that at the time he only suspected a possible plot
and had thought about calling police to alert them of his concerns after
getting out of the car in Sweden, Haslund said.
It was just after 2 a.m.
when the vehicle carrying the other cell members crossed the iconic
Oresund Bridge connecting the two countries, authorities say. When they
reached Copenhagen, they were initially unable to find the address where
they planned to sleep. Just after 10 a.m. on December 29, Danish
police, concerned the men might be about to try launch their operation,
moved in to make the arrests.
Authorities say
officials had already taken precautions. When they learned the group was
planning to travel to Denmark, they secretly disabled their weapons,
according to a Swedish counterterrorism source.
Plastic wrist strips
were also found in their car, according to court documents, and security
services said they believed the materials were going to be used to
handcuff hostages. Security services believe the plan was to try to take
up to 200 journalists hostage at the newspaper and execute many of
them, a Swedish counterterrorism source told CNN.
The equivalent of
$20,000 in cash was also recovered from the suspects, and a pistol and
ammunition were found in one of their apartments, according to court
documents.
A Swedish
counterterrorism source has told CNN that investigations have revealed a
complex set of connections between the plotters and a network linked to
Ilyas Kashmiri, a senior Pakistani al Qaeda operative who Western
intelligence believe orchestrated al Qaeda's plans to hit Europe with
Mumbai-style attacks.
Dhahri and Awad had a
connection to "Farid," a Stockholm-based militant of Moroccan descent
who is suspected of acting as facilitator for Kashmiri's terrorist
network, according to a Swedish counterterrorism source.
At trial, the prosecutor
stated that in the days before the cell set off for Sweden, Dhahri was
in touch by phone five times with Farid, using Zalouti's phone.
Also involved with
Kashmiri's network was David Headley, an American of Pakistani descent
who pleaded guilty two years ago to helping plot the Mumbai attacks.
According to an
interview of Headley by India's National Investigation Agency that was
obtained by CNN, Headley met with Farid in 2009 in relation to a plot
Headley himself was planning against the Jyllands Posten newspaper.
The newspaper and its
cartoonists have been targeted by several plots in recent years,
including one by a Norwegian al Qaeda cell that was broken up in July
2010.
Kashmiri was reported killed in a drone strike in June 2011.
An attack strategy
document seized on an alleged al Qaeda recruit in Berlin last spring
indicates the terrorist group still hopes to launch a gun and hostage
execution attack in Europe because of the publicity and fear such
attacks would create.
http://edition.cnn.com/
