Al-Qaida group in Norway

Aftenposten:

The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM), linked to terrorist attacks in Madrid and Casablanca, has active members in Norway according to Italian intelligence sources.

Sources at the Italian defense intelligence organization SISMI have warned that volunteers fighting against American-led forces in Iraq are returning to Italy to carry out attacks, and that investigation indicates active links with comrade cells throughout Europe.

"Europe is no longer just a site for support and logistical aid for al-Qaida, it has become a type of battlefield," SISMI wrote in a report this spring.

According to newspaper Corriere della Sera, Italian CIGM members have had contact with cells om France, Bosnia, Morocco, Sweden, Britain and Norway.

Brynjar Lia at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) could not confirm or disprove the claim that the CIGM was active in Norway, but pointed out that a Danish-Moroccan was linked to the May 2003 terrorist attack in Casablanca that killed 45.

"The group (CIGM) formed in Europe in 1993 and established itself in Morocco the year after. It has branches in most places in Europe, also Scandinavia," Lia said.

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