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RABEI OSMAN EL SAYED AHMED
THE PRIME SUSPECT IN THE MADRID BOMBING
Arrested
June 7, 2004, in
Milan, Italy, Rabei
Osman El Sayed Ahmed
remains an enigmatic
figure in the story
of the Madrid terrorist
attack. Is he a cold,
calculating Islamic
terrorist with contacts
extending across
Europe and the Middle
East, or is he a
wannabe jihadist
boasting of playing
a part in events
he was only marginally
involved with? For
now, European police
are convinced he
is the former.
Police
believe that Rabei
Ahmed - known as
'the Egyptian' -
played a key role
in the Madrid bombing. |
An Army Background
What is known about Rabei is that he was born in Alazizya-Samnoud in Egypt on July 22, 1971. He came from a solid middle class family. Nevertheless, Italian and Spanish arrest warrants suggest he became a member of the terrorist organization Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), one of al-Qaeda's backbone groups, which was led by Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's right hand man and mentor.
Rabei
served for three years
in the Egyptian Army
as part of mandatory
service, then re-uped
for two more years.
He allegedly was stationed
in the explosives brigade
in Port Said and considered
an expert in bombs.
He left Egypt in 1996.
However, Egyptian police
and embassy officials
cannot confirm the
allegations Rabei was
a member of the EIJ
or became an explosives
expert in the army.
After leaving Egypt, Rabei may have traveled to Afghanistan, Syria and Jordan.
Xavier
Raufer is an
authority on
militant Islam:
"The real problem now with the Iraqi situation and the Palestine situation,
you've got a lot of people in the Muslim world that are indignant. And when you
add these indignant people to the one or two percent of fanatics, it makes a
big crowd." |
Germany
Rabei flew into Frankfurt in June of 1999. He first came to the attention of authorities when he was arrested for not having any identification while travelling on a train from Germany to France on June 20, 1999. Why he was traveling to France remains unknown. When arrested, he introduced himself as Muhammad Abdul Hadi Fayed, and claimed to be a stateless Palestinian who came from Libya to stay in Frankfurt. However, the authorities could not verify any of this information.
Rabei
applied for political
asylum as a Palestinian
refugee. His request
was denied in July
of 1999 and he was
sent promptly to jail.
While in prison, he
worked as a janitor.
He was released in
September 12, 2000
and sent to a hostel
for asylum seekers
in Lebach, a town of
22,000 in Saarland.
At the refugee center,
people noticed he was
very religious and
spoke English quite
well. Rabei started
a prayer group and
began to act as a kind
of imam.
Spain
Although
he was not supposed
to leave the asylum
hostel in Germany, Rabei
did exactly that. In
August 2001 he traveled
to Spain for week or
two, then returned to
the refugee center and
prepared to depart for
good. He was last seen
on August 29, 2001,
and was thought to have
gone straight to Spain.
Indeed, on September
6, 2001, Rabei visited
the Egyptian embassy
in Madrid and applied
for duplicate passport,
saying he lost his old
one.
However,
in the aftermath of
9/11, German authorities
began investigating
thousands of fundamentalist
Muslims to see if
any are tied to the
Hamburg cell. In so
doing, they re-examined
the case of Rabei,
the stateless "Palestinian".
But again their investigations
proved fruitless.
It's unclear how Rabei supported himself at this time. Some reports say that he worked as a painter. Other reports claim that he received sizeable sums of money from a controversial Saudi Sheikh named Salman al-'Auda.
Armando
Spartaro is a
senior prosecutor
in Milan:
"Everyone knows that the Madrid attacks were carried out with the assistance of cell phones that triggered the explosions. In the conversations that Rabei had he appeared to be very knowledgeable in these techniques." |
He went to local mosques but was eventually asked to leave at least one of them because he was considered too radical and annoying. According to the El Pais newspaper, Rabei and a Tunisian, Sarhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, had close ties with individuals belonging to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Sarhane had belonged to Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas' al-Qaeda cell since 1996. Yarkas had been investigated by Judge Balthasar Garzon for an alleged connection with the 9/11 attacks. Sarhane, one of seven who died in the Leganes blast on April 3, 2004 apparently found Rabei's explosives expertise helpful in planning and executing the Madrid terrorist attack.
Rabei may also have been connected with groups associated with al-Qaeda such as Takfir wal-Hijra movement, an extremist Islamist sect. Takfir was founded in Egypt in the 1970s and embraces the most violent strain of salafist jihadist ideology.
Rabei
left Spain on February
27, 2003 and headed
to France, fearful
the Spanish police
had discovered his
whereabouts.
France
On
February 28, 2003, Spanish
authorities notified
the French that Rabei
was about to move to
Paris. The police located
him in Vincennes where
he was staying with
his cousin Elsheshtawy
Ahmed.
He
was placed under partial
surveillance but didn't
appear to have ties
to any radical Islamic
movements in France.
The police lost contact
with him at some juncture.
He appeared to have
been involved in forging
documents for those
living in the country
illegally. He also
worked as a construction
worker and house painter.
He continued to maintain
contact with his friends
in Spain.
Italy
Rabei
arrived in Milan in
January 2004, and moved
in with his future brother-in-law
Ghazi Bidel and Bidel's
cousin Wael - both of
whom work in a local
pizzeria. The three
share an apartment in
an upscale neighborhood
of via Cadore which
they could afford by
pooling their money.
Police found this picture along with bomb-assembly instructions on Rabei's computer. |
After
the bomb attacks occur
in March 11th , the
Spanish police arrested
a number of suspects.
One of them had Rabei's
cell phone number in
his address book. The
Spanish police ask the
Milanese police to place
Rabei under surveillance.
Having cut their teeth
investigating Mafioso,
left-wing and Islamist
terrorists for years,
the Milanese police
are skilled at wiretapping
Rabei's home, phone
and computer.
Not
long after he is placed
under surveillance,
Rabei moved to another
apartment on the outskirts
of Milan, probably
in early April 2004.
The police placed
that flat under surveillance
as well, wiretapping
the phone, rooms and
computer. By then,
Rabei had recruited
a young Egyptian,
Yehia Ragheh, 21,
to become a possible
suicide bomber in
Iraq. In one of their
recorded conversations
Rabei makes a stunning
admission.
"There is something that I won't hide from you. The Madrid attack was my project and those who died as martyrs (at Leganes), they are my very dear friends. This project took me a lot of studying and a lot of patience, it took me two and a half years." (from the wiretap transcript)
He
was also in touch
with a man by the
name of Mourad in
Belgium and someome
by the name of Muhammad
Ragheh in France.
They discussed in
oblique terms the
eventuality of becoming
suicide bombers.
After
listening to Rabei
and Yehia for two
months, the police
grew worried that
Rabei was planning
another Madrid-styled
attack in Belgium
with the help of Mourad.
They decided to arrest
him, although they
would have liked to
keep him under surveillance
for far longer.
On June
7, he and Yehia were
arrested. The next
day, Belgium police
arrested Mourad.
Currently, Rabei is in prison awaiting extradition to Spain.
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