Suspected jihadist jailed on remand by judge
FBI helped Spanish police to identify Islamic State (IS) supporter
A SUSPECTED jihadist arrested in Girona (Cataluña) had a number of possible targets in his sights, including Benidorm.
According to state news agency EFE, the 26 year old – who is of Moroccan origin – had stated on propaganda forums that he wanted to strike against an ‘accessible individual objective associated with the Spanish or Moroccan state, or Jewish interests’.
He had also ‘expressed an interest’ in buying weapons to ‘carry out a possible attack on the beaches of Benidorm’.
According to the security services, Fath Allah Benhachem Grarrass – who was born in Taourirt in Morocco and holds Spanish nationality – had repeatedly stated his desire to carry out a terror outrage.
EFE reported that the suspect had written on a forum that Moroccan politicians were invited by drug
smugglers to spend their holidays in the south of Spain and he could target them while they were in the country.
Help from the FBI
The ministry of the interior was more guarded in the press release they published on the arrest and did not mention any potential targets that the suspect may have been considering. A spokesman did reveal that the FBI in the US had played a ‘vital role in the identification and neutralisation of the alleged terrorist’.
He said the National Police and the Guardia Civil had mounted a joint operation to arrest him, under the guidance of a National Court judge.
According to the ministry, the 26 year old was in an ‘advanced state of jihadist radicalisation’ and he had an ‘aggressive and very violent profile’.
He used the Deep Web to further his ‘terrorist aims’ and to obtain training manuals on the use of arms and explosives, ‘as well as the acquisition of arms’.
“On the very day of his arrest he had carried out internet searches on how to carry out stabbings and attacks using knives,” explained the ministry.
The judge has remanded the suspect in custody.