File this story under the rubric: “Be careful what you wish for.” When the U.S. guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) departed Norfolk Naval Base to take up station at the Spanish naval base in Rota two months ago, it set off alarm bells in Moscow. Accusing the U.S. of attempting to set up a “strategic offensive potential” in Europe, Russia…
UPDATE – 09:55 ET – Spanish airline Vueling says that fears that one of its planes was hijacked en route from Malaga in Spain to Schiphol Airport were unfounded.The airline said on Twitter on Wednesday that "Amsterdam's protocol for security was activated owing to a temporary loss of communication between the plane and air traffic control."Nat…
Authorities in Spain released a video Saturday that they claim shows suspected al-Qaida members training for a bombing raid using a model plane, the latest development in a case that has led to three arrests.Spanish officials allege the suspects were planning a terrorist attack in Spain or elsewhere in Europe, but say investigators managed to intercept th…
— Spain says pirates have attacked a Spanish navy warship off Somalia, drawing gunfire that reportedly left one dead and prompted a helicopter chase in which six attackers were arrested.A Defense Ministry official says the assailants may have mistaken the 165-meter (540-foot) ship Patino for a freighter in the attack before dawn Thursday.The Patino is par…
MADRID, Spain (CNN) — Spanish police have arrested 15 suspected Islamic terrorists believed to be supporting attacks on American forces and their allies in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry and an anti-terrorism official.The suspects — 13 Moroccans and two Algerians — are thought to be involved in the recruiting, trainin…
Spanish intelligence services are on heightened alert as North African Salafite groups appear to be merging with al-Qaeda, strengthening the network in the Iberian peninsula, according to police anti-terror sources quoted by daily El Pais. Spain and neighbouring France are the countries most “at risk”. But other European countries where Algerian group the…
MADRID – The widow of a man killed in the Madrid bombings attended the trial of Islamic radicals with a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed with a bomb on her T-shirt.The judge in charge of trial on Monday asked security guards to check the woman’s T-shirt and ordered the cameras to halt live transmissions.Initially, he thought the woman could been a relative…
A Spanish judge has charged a Moroccan man as an additional prime suspect in the Madrid train bombings, and ordered that he be brought to Spain from Morocco, where he is currently in jail on other charges.The judge’s order on Wednesday comes as 29 defendants are currently on trial in Madrid for the attacks, including seven who are considered prime defenda…
Madrid – The situation for foreign soldiers in Afghanistan is growing ever more dangerous, according to the Spanish intelligence service.The Spanish newspaper El Pais on Saturday reported intelligence service sources as warning that the number of attacks by Taliban fighters on NATO troops will rise steeply this year.If the insurgents in an area come under…
Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards have rallied in Madrid to protest at planned peace talks between the government and Basque separatists ETA and demanded the guerrillas lay down their arms.Draped in Spanish flags and carrying photos of their dead, families of ETA victims joined opposition politicians to attack Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’…