The International Herald Tribune
PARIS -- A suspected mastermind of the Madrid train bombings was planning another terrorist attack, but intelligence and law enforcement officials in Europe say they are still struggling to determine its nature and location.
Excerpts of confidential telephone conversations intercepted and analyzed by Italy’s antiterrorism unit suggest that Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, the 32-year-old Egyptian arrested outside of Milan on Tuesday, may even have been plotting an attack on the vast Paris Metro system.
But France and Italy denied such claims on Thursday, saying there was no credible evidence to suggest that their territories were the target.
“Of course we have analyzed all available information concerning this matter,” Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin of France told reporters during a visit to Germany. “I confirm that, in these exchanges, there are no indications about the preparation of possible attacks in Paris, on the Paris Metro or elsewhere.”
The excerpts, contained in a 26-page confidential arrest warrant by the Milan prosecutor’s office, offer an unusual window into the possible planning of an attack and the thinking of Rabei.
Rabei, also known as “Mohammad the Egyptian,” has been identified by the Spanish authorities as the possible mastermind behind the Madrid terror attacks that left 191 people dead.
A former Egyptian Army explosives expert, he was well-connected with radical Islamic networks throughout Europe and had spent time in France, they said.
In one conversation on May 26, Rabei boasts to Yahia Payumi, a 21-year-old Egyptian who was arrested with him, that plans are under way for some sort of chemical attack against the United States.
Rabei reports “bad news” - that a woman named “Hotaf” has been “discovered,” but adds, “There are other women.”
Among them is “Mouattaf,” who has already been “prepared with many medicinal products,” he said. “If she tosses a stick she destroys an entire American neighborhood.”
The telephone intercepts underscore the difficulties faced by intelligence agencies in trying to monitor and eradicate terrorist cells in Europe.
In recent weeks, the United States told a number of European countries that there was credible information of an imminent terrorist attack against a European Union target, perhaps around the time of the elections of European Union countries that began Thursday and will continue through Sunday, a senior European counterterrorist official said Thursday.
French, Spanish and Belgian officials said Thursday that the Italian authorities had given them only partial transcripts of the intercepted conversations - part of a warrant for Rabei’s arrest - and that the translations from Arabic into Italian and the Italian analysis might not be accurate.
In addition, the conversations, first reported in Thursday’s editions of Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, are incomplete and appear to be partially in code.
More than once, Rabei warns a man in Belgium identified only as “Mourad” not to discuss certain things on the telephone.
In one conversation, on May 29, “Mourad” tells Rabei that he is “ready,” that he should be in Paris soon and that “the operation is moving forward.”
Rabei asks for information “about the city,” (which the Italians conclude is Paris) and “about the Metro.”
In another conversation intercepted by the Belgian authorities and summarized in the Italian document, a third man identified as “Mohammed,” who is already in Paris, is said to be ready for martyrdom, “that is, for the execution of a suicide operation,” the Italian document concluded.
On May 24, Rabei tells “Mourad” that the operation began four days ago and that he should be prepared to leave Belgium for an unspecified country.
An Italian official in Milan close to the investigation said that “it was wrong to say that Paris is where the attack was going to be.” He added that the Italian authorities believe that Paris may have only been a convenient meeting point for the operatives.
The official added, however, that it was “certain” that the cell had been “planning something” inside Iraq. In the past year, intelligence officials have begun to see the recruitment and deployment of guerrilla fighters from Europe to Iraq to fight the American-led occupation there.
Rabei was identified by Spanish officials shortly after the Madrid attacks as one of a number of suspects who could have been ultimately responsible for the plot.
In one conversation, Rabei refers to the Madrid bombings as “a project of mine.”
In another conversation in May, Rabei reportedly boasted that he could change his fingerprints. “I know a way that allows me to continually change my fingerprints,” he said in a conversation with Yahia Payumi, who was arrested with him. “They are never the same.” He added, “Not even the American intelligence services will find me.”
Rabei also said in that conversation that he had used different nationalities - Jordanian, Egyptian, Palestinian and Syrian - until his friends in Tangier “told me to stop, because they’ll get you.”
Most of the bombers identified in the Madrid attacks and killed in a suicide operation as police closed in on them afterward were Moroccan.
In his May 24 conversation with “Mourad,” Rabei said that he could not travel to Spain because “the entire group” - “our friends” - have “all gone to God.”
Rabei and Payumi were arrested in coordination with the arrests of 15 people in Belgium who also were said to be planning an attack.