One of the Paris terrorists is known to have been in Spain for New Year, leading police to investigate possible links with a terrorist cell in Spain.
Spanish media claim that the security forces had established that Amedy Coulibaly was in Madrid from 30 December until 2 January.
“Spanish anti-terrorist officers are investigating, in cooperation with their French counterparts, the activities of Coulibaly during his stay in Madrid and trying to determine with whom he could have been in contact,” said the Spanish daily La Vanguardia.
“His presence in the city suggests there is, at least, a support cell in the capital of Spain.”
It is believed that Coulibaly went back to France “accompanied by an individual who has yet to be identified”.
Coulibaly, 32, was one of three Islamic fundamentalists who assaulted Paris last week. He shot dead a police officer, then stormed a kosher supermarket and killed four hostages.
Spanish and French police are now investigating any possible links and the Spanish high court has opened a preliminary investigation into Coulibaly’s time in Spain.
A judge will look into the activities of Coulibaly and his partner Hayat Boumeddiene while they were in Madrid, as well as that of the third unidentified person, said the court.
Before the Paris attacks, Boumeddiene travelled to Syria via Madrid and Istanbul, reaching Syria on 8 January.
The Spanish interior minister, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, said recently that around a dozen of the 70 Spanish citizens who have joined the jihad in Syria and Iraq, had returned home since the beginning of 2015.
Comments
The secret search by the authorities ... which may or may not be happening ! Regardless of whether searching for someone needing help like a small child or a disoriented adult. Or a bad guy like here.
Even the search for the recently missing Portuguese mountaineer in the Picos da Europa would have been entirely hushed up ... if just metres further south in Portugal !
Which is so totally at odds to those done by the authorities in a more developed EU country - which can and will regularly switch from public appeals to secrecy as needed.
It was noticeable hearing the French Internal Security minister admit that "We only published the search posters after the attackers started publishing their identities to radio stations."
Otherwise .... shhhhh ! YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW!
(PS would the red's identify themselves in this land of free expression ?)