Spanish authorities arrested nine members of a jihadist cell in Madrid yesterday that recruited fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham in Syria and Iraq. The cell is led by Moroccan national Lahcen Ikassrien, 47, a former Guantanamo detainee who was handed over in 2005 to Spain, where he was released after being acquitted of cooperating with al Qaeda. Ikassrien belonged to a network run by Abu Dah Dah a.k.a. Imad Eddin Barakat, one of the founders of al Qaeda in Spain. Other members of the recruiting cell included Denis Ibryam Redhed., a Bulgarian; César Raúl Rodríguez, an Argentinian; Mohamed Khaloukh Darouani; Abdeslam El Haddouti; Oiane Chergui; Zayyad Younes; Mohamed Nabil Benazzou Benhaddou; and Bouyakhlef. Authorities are also seeking a brother of deceased terrorist Mohamed Al Falah who recently left for Syria; and arrested K.J.C.L., an Angolan national from Morocco, in Huelva, on suspicion of spreading jihadist propaganda on Urdu forums in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
