The video appears on a site called Syriantube.net, a pro-government website which says it contains videos of Syrian army actions against rebel forces. Screen grab: YouTube

'We will take Spain back': Syrian jihadists 

http://www.thelocal.es/20140702/we-will-take-spain-back-syrian-jihadists

Published: 02 Jul 2014 11:34 GMT+02:00
Updated: 02 Jul 2014 11:34 GMT+02:00

Two Syrian jihadists have posted a video in which they have promised to reclaim Spain in the name of Islam.

• Spain one of Europe's terror hotspots: Report (28 May 14)
• 'Terror cell was biggest and most active in Spain' (14 Mar 14)
• Police break up terror cell with Syria links (14 Mar 14)

"Spain is the land of our grandfathers and we are going to take it back," say the two young men say in Spanish during the brief video.

Much of Spain was in Muslim hands from the eight century to the thirteenth century, but this rule was far from uniform in nature, and changed over time. Monuments including the Mezquita in Cordoba and the Alhambra Palace in Granada are a testament to the cultural richness of this period.  

"We are living under the Islamic flag and we are going to do for it (the flag) until we have reclaimed all the imprisoned lands, from Jakarta to Andalusia," the relaxed-looking men say .

The video appears on a site called Syriantube.net, a pro-government website which says it contains videos of Syrian army actions against rebel forces.






 It was also posted on YouTube on Tuesday and has been watched just under 8,000 times.
Spanish press have described the men in the video as rebel soldiers, but it is not clearly which group or faction they belong to.

In March, Spanish and Moroccan security forces broke up what was described as one of the most active in Europe by the Spanish interior minister.

Spanish security forces seized the suspected leader of the ring, Mustafa Maya Amaya, a Belgian naturalised in Spain, as well as two French suspects he is thought to have recruited to send to Syria, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Spanish police broke up a cell that recruited and dispatched recruits for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants based in Syria and Iraq, Spain's interior ministry said in a statement.

An earlier raid in March 2013 saw Spanish and Moroccan forces arrest seven suspects as they broke up a cell suspected of sending volunteer fighters to Mali, Syria and Libya.


A recent Europol report showed Spain was the third most dangerous country in Europe for terrorism