The next battlefield: Ceuta and Melilla?

19. May 2008 by Dan Verton.

 By OLIVIER GUITTA 5/19/08

Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida’s No.2, makes a point to regularly mention in his broadcasts the Muslim lands that needs to be “liberated.” The list includes ?the usual suspects? for every respectable jihadist: “Palestine”, Kashmir and Chechnya but interestingly, the list includes two tiny Spanish enclaves located in Morocco: Ceuta and Melilla.

For the time being Zawahiri focus on the enclaves rather than the whole “Al Andalus” (historic Spain). Indeed their importance should not be underestimated.
The two enclaves administered by the Spaniards, (as Hong Kong was by the British) physically inside Morocco, are in fact neither Spanish nor Moroccan. Ceuta and Melilla ? 140 miles apart as the crow flies, or 240 miles by road — on the Moroccan coast hover between Islamic and Christian cultures. The 12 square mile territories however have a vital and strategic importance; they serve as beachheads between Europe and Africa. Ceuta is only 13 miles from the European coast. And Morocco and Spain have been fighting over them for years. Now the Islamists have joined the fray.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in al-Qaeda, The Croissant, Gloabl War on Terror | Print | 1 Comment »