The Guardia Civil transfers the suspected jihadist, who was arrested last Saturday in Lucena del Puerto (Huelva) after the search of his house was completed.
Last Saturday, the Guardia Civil and the CNI arrested Oussama A., a 33-year-old unemployed Moroccan accused of spreading the jihadist ideology of the Islamic State ( ISIS ( English acronym) on the internet and at the local mosque, the Armed Institute reported Tuesday.The arrested man not only led prayers in the oratories he attended, despite not being an official imam, but also had “numerous accounts in social networks and participates in groups and channels”. [en internet]” through which he allegedly disseminated material produced by the terrorist organization’s propaganda machine.
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Oussama, who lived in a house in Huelva with his wife, two children and two brothers-in-law, allegedly used encrypted instant messaging applications to “interact with people convicted of terrorist integration in Spain”. According to investigators, the detainee was “in the final stages of a radicalization process” that had led to him swearing allegiance to ISIS leader Abu al-Husein al-Husseini. The judge of the national court, María Tardón, ordered his detention on Tuesday.
According to the investigation, dubbed “Operation Qalat” (“Fortress” in Arabic), Oussame arrived in Spain less than three years ago, in September 2020, as part of family reunification and was subsequently granted a temporary residence permit to work. From that moment on he always lived in Lucena del Puerto, where he did agricultural work very sporadically, although he was currently unemployed, according to sources close to the investigation. The latest annual report from the International Observatory for Studies on Terrorism (OIET), released last April, highlighted that only seven of the 36 suspected jihadists arrested in Spain last year were unemployed.
Investigations by the Guardia Civil indicate that the man, now in detention, had “a low level of integration” in the community and spent most of his time at home, where he used his social networks to allegedly propagate “the most radical theses of IS”. spread. He only left home on time, mostly to go to work when he could, or to the mosque and local oratories.
In it, Oussama “exercised a strong ideological and religious influence on the Muslims of his community” precisely because he played the role of “spiritual leader” by assuming the function of imam, according to the Civil Guard note, from which also reveals that he allegedly used his sermons to indoctrinate other believers in Islamic State’s postulates of terror. “His strong sense of inadequacy, his hatred of Spain and his rejection of Western culture in general, as well as the rest of the elements found during the investigation, set him apart as a subject of great influence, both physically and virtually, on the Muslim community could exercise.”, emphasizes the statement of the armed institute. Investigative sources add that he still wore western clothing to avoid being noticed.
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The “high risk” associated with his active role as a recruiter and indoctrinator, according to the Guardia Civil, eventually led to his arrest last Saturday. During a search of his home, the armed institute said they “found evidence that he was involved in criminal activities,” but did not explain this further. With this arrest, 21 people have already been arrested – eight of them in other countries – as part of the security forces’ eleven operations against jihadist terrorism so far this year.