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."

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.

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.

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.

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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