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SEVEN MEMBERS OF ISLAMIC CELL ARRESTED

By David Eade

On Wednesday the Guardia Civil swooped to round up five people in Algeciras, all from North Africa, who are said to be involved in Islamic terrorism. The on-going investigation netted another two as further raids took place in Ceuta.

According to the Ministry of the Interior the first five were seized in a number of apartments in Algeciras and had been involved in drug trafficking, largely hashish. It is also alleged they carried out robberies and sold cars. The money received from these illicit activities went to funding terrorist attacks in Northern Morocco.

Spanish authorities have stressed that the cell was not involved in terrorism in this country. The arrests were part of a joint Spanish – Moroccan joint action and had been underway for some time.

The operation took some five hours to complete with armed, masked police on the streets as the men were arrested then various documents, cash and vehicles were taken from the various homes. One of the first to be arrested was Mohamed El-Khaloum, the vice-president of the Islamic movement in Algeciras.

All those arrested own businesses in Algeciras varying from a cake shop and a butchery. A bakery was also raided in La Línea that belongs to the same owners. It is also understood that 1,300 kilos of hashish was amongst the items confiscated and the initial charges faced by those arrested relate to drug trafficking.

LA LINÉA TOWN HALL IS PROTECTED

The Historical Protection association in La Línea has warned that the town hall and its gardens are protected by the regional government. It has spoken out as the Villa San José was built in 1878, became the town hall in 1922 and is now being converted in to the new home of the Cruz Herrera museum.

The building and gardens were listed as protected in 2004. Now the association is calling on the ministry of culture to halt the conversion works as they have not been approved by the Andalucía government.

Meanwhile the Cádiz heritage commission is seeking more information before it makes a decision on whether La Línea existing market can be demolished and a new market building erected on the site with a car park incorporated. The Historical Protection body says the building should be preserved as the roof dates back to 1882 and it is of heritage value.

APARTMENT BLOCK HAS WATER TURNED OFF

As temperatures sore the residents of the Ensenada apartment complex in the Miraflores area of San Roque have no water in their taps. This situation has been endured by them for over a week. The water supply was cut off by Arcgisa due to unpaid bills by the community of owners.

Seven apartment buildings make up the complex and it is understood that many residents over a year period did not make their payments on a regular basis. This has resulted with a debt to 7,557 euros and although new water meters have now been installed they will not be activated until the debt is paid.

RIGHT TO BUY HOMES FOR JIMENA AND CASTELLAR

The Cádiz delegate for housing, Silvia López, has met with the mayors of Jimena and Castellar – Pascual Collado and Francisco Vaca. One of the topics under discussion was the project to change low rent housing to rentals with the opportunity to buy at a later date.

Various zones of Jimena could be incorporated in the scheme including Los Chorros and Corral del Concejo. In addition 369 new houses are planned for Castellar Nuevo which would also be offered under the same regime.

GIBRALTAR TO BUY BIGGER PROTECTION PATROL BOATS

Gibraltar is to boost the protection of its territorial waters by purchasing larger vessels with which to enforce its jurisdiction. Chief Minister Peter Caruana hinted at the plan during his recent budget speech.

He told Parliament the Gibraltar Government “intends to do all that it can…to put an end to Spanish incursions.”

Caruana acknowledged that the British Government had primary responsibility for upholding and defending the sovereignty of British waters around the Rock.

However in response to recent incursions by Guardia Civil and a fisheries protection vessel he stated: “...the Government of Gibraltar certainly has jurisdictional competences for official acts in Gibraltar waters and…we are certainly intending to upgrade our investment to make much more senior our assets to uphold them.”

“Not only will that involve the installation of a new VTS system (for shipping monitoring), but it will involve the acquisition of vessels of a much more important size and capacity with which to exercise and enforce our jurisdictional competences and our statutory obligations.”

It is thought likely that the patrol vessels will be used by the Royal Gibraltar Police rather than the Gibraltar Squadron which is controlled by the Royal Navy.

FAIR DEATH
A Romanian man aged between 45 and 50 was killed at 13.30 on Wednesday after he was involved in the taking down of one of the attractions that had been used in the Algeciras fair. It is believed that the man may have died from the heat. His identity is not yet known as he had no identification, was not covered by the social security system and appears to have been employed illegally.

DIVER’S BACCY
The Guardia Civil have seized 2,000 cigarettes that were being transported from La Línea’s Levante beach by a diver. Officers spotted the man emerging from the water at La Atunara who was carrying cases of cigarettes to the shoreline. In all four cases of Winston international cigarettes were found and the man arrested of smuggling charges.

DIVING DEATH
A German tourist has died after drowning whilst diving off Camp Bay in Gibraltar. He was on holiday on the Costa del Sol but had travelled to the Rock with an excursion group. A court has opened an enquiry in to the tragedy but there is pressure on the Gibraltar Government to monitor and control these recreational activities.

BLACK SMOKE
On Sunday the high tension electricity transformer in the Pinar del Rey in San Roque suffered a break down. This caused power cuts in many areas of the Campo de Gibraltar. It also affected the Cepsa oil refinery which caused thick black smoke to pour from the installations chimneys.

MUSHROOM DROP
A combination of low temperatures and the heavy rains have resulted in a drop in the mushrooms collected in Los Alcornocales national park. This year 3,800.72 kilos of mushrooms were brought to the Jimena market which is less than in recent years. The average price of fungi this season is 11 euros and 36,232.71 euros has gone through the Jimena tills.