Al Qaeda: The Invisible Organisation
36-minutes, 2002
Ref: 005tvc

The Spanish police tapped telephone conversations that spoke of an attack on the United States. But it was only after the 11th of September that they discovered what they meant. By then it was too late. Even so, the calls helped the police round up suspects. There are now more people imprisoned in Spain under suspicion of planning the attacks than in any other country in the world. It seems that the Al-Qaeda organization has successfully hidden from both the police and the courts. Despite the thousands of arrests in the United States, only one person - Zacharias Moussaui - has been directly linked to the attacks. That's why the apparent success of the Spanish police is so remarkable. The police and Judge Garzón have linked eleven Spanish Muslims - most of Syrian origin - to the planning of the Twin Towers attack. The police's "Operation Date Tree" is considered a masterstroke by other forces and secret services around the world - especially by the Americans. "Trenta Minuts" looks at this police operation and why the Spanish force has been so successful, contrasting it with FBI and CIA bungling. One of the keys to the Spanish coup is that the country has a special police brigade that has investigated radical Islamic groups ever since 1956. It was set up when Franco's repression was at its height. The report also interviews one of the lawyers representing arrested suspects. He questions the rigor of the Spanish police accusations and the evidence produced. He says the arrests are politically inspired and designed to get American co-operation for the government's campaign against Basque terrorists. One of the lawyers admits that his clients are Islamic radicals but says that sending money to the needy in Palestine, Bosnia and Afghanistan is not terrorism. The "30 Minuts" team reconstructs the journey made by Mohamed Atta, the leader of the suicide pilots, to Madrid and Salou before the 11th of September. It is thought that Atta met European leaders of Al-Qaeda in Salou, including Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a Yemeni trained as a pilot. Ramzi could not enter the USA because he lacked a visa. The police and the FBI believe that Bin al-Shibh, currently at large, is one of the few who could explain how the attack on the World Trade Center was organized. The report "Al-Qaeda, the Invisible Organization" also looks at the cases of Ahmed Brahim, a man arrested in Sant Joan Despí by the Guàrdia Civil (militarized police) and Ghasoub al-Abrash, a Madrid businessman of Syrian origin who was arrested and released all within the space of a few hours. Ghasoub says that the wave of arrests has put Arab businessmen off visiting Spain or investing in the country.