ISIS looking to exploit Spanish-Moroccan border to enter Europe

[stevenleser]

Anyone who doubts ISIS is going to be a huge problem going forward is in for a rude awakening. Yesterday the Spanish military/police arrested a suspected ISIS militant who used forged Moroccan credentials to enter Spain.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/30/world/isis-frontline-melilla-spain/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Bermudes also expressed a fear widely held among Spanish officials, saying in his ruling that "the threat posed by Spaniards or foreigners linked to Spain joining ISIS, or their hypothetical return to our country, is manifestly clear."

This year, Spanish security forces have arrested 44 people - some in Melilla, some in Spain's other North African enclave of Ceuta, some on the mainland. According to the police, members of a Melilla group rounded up in May had dispatched 26 men — 24 Moroccans and two Spanish citizens — since 2012 to join Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and MUJAO.

[Anansi1171]

1. The point is made, but it was clear when I visited Gibraltar..

...that Spain does not share a border with any African country, no?

[stevenleser]

3. I guess this is one of those "It depends what the meaning of is, is" type of discussions

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melilla

Melilla (Spanish pronunciation: [meˈliʎa]; Berber: Mřič (Mritch); Arabic: مليلية?, Maliliyyah) is a Spanish-administered city and an exclave located on the north coast of Africa, sharing a border with Morocco with an area of 12.3 square kilometres (4.7 sq mi). Melilla, along with Ceuta, is one of two permanently inhabited Spanish-administered cities in mainland Africa. It was part of Málaga province until 14 March 1995, when the city's Statute of Autonomy was passed.

Melilla, like Ceuta, was a free port before Spain joined the European Union. As of 2011, it had a population of 78,476 made up of ethnic Spaniards, ethnic Riffian Berbers, and a small number of ethnic Spanish Jews. Both Spanish and Riffian-Berber are the two most widely spoken languages, with Spanish as the only official language.

Melilla is claimed by Morocco and is considered by the Moroccan state to be "occupied territory".

[Anansi1171]

6. I stand corrected!-nt

[closeupready]

2. How is this news? Colonial outposts like Ceuta have long

had very tight borders to keep out North African migrants. Nothing new there.

Oh it just occurred to me - CNN. This story is likely a piece of pro-war propaganda.

[stevenleser]

4. It's news because they arrested an ISIS militant yesterday attempting to exploit that border

crossing to get to mainland Europe.

The point is that ISIS is not happy just to control the Middle East, if that is to what it comes.

[closeupready]

5. Okay, thanks.