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IRAQ

Norwegian accused of royal threat in jihad video

A Norwegian citizen previously accused of making threats against the country's royal family has reportedly shown up in a jihadist video shot in Iraq, police said on Tuesday.

Norwegian accused of royal threat in jihad video
Photo: Screenshot/LiveLeak

Bastian Vasquez, a 25-year-old of Chilean origin, allegedly appears in the video, said to have been produced by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), gloating over the fall of an Iraqi border post.

On the video, posted on liveleak.com on Sunday, the man states that Isis had taken the post and killed several Iraqi soldiers.

"The PST has decided to investigate Bastian Vasquez in relation to the published footage," Norway's police security service (PST) said on Twitter.

In 2012, Vasquez was accused of making threats against the Norwegian royal family and former prime minister Jens Stoltenberg in another video.

After he did not show up for his trial, Norway launched an international hunt for him with the PST suspecting he could have gone to Syria.

The police security service told Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet that Vasquez, alias Abu Safiyyah or Mohammad Jundullah, is charged with participation in or support of a terrorist organization.

It is unclear whether Vasquez is an active fighter or carries out other tasks for Isis.

The man said to be Vasquez in the video is shown at a deserted border post amid burnt-out patrol cars.

"We killed most of them, some of them ran off and we took a lot of prisoners," he says in broken English.

"They are nothing but cowards, they only run away, the Iraqi army."  

The footage also showed between ten and 20 hostages — apparently Shia Muslims — taken by Isis, and the moment Vasquez blew up a building he said used to house a police station.

According to the PST, at least 40 to 50 people with links to Norway have fought or are currently fighting in Syria with forces opposed to the Bashar al-Assad regime.

In Syria, Isis — which now calls itself the Islamic State — is fought by other rebel groups which accuse it of seeking hegemonic power and of committing atrocities against civilians, pacifist activists and other rebels.

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TERRORISM

Three suspected jihadists held in Barcelona

A court in Spain on Monday remanded in custody three suspected members of Islamic State arrested last week in Barcelona, including an Algerian man who had fought for the Islamist group in Iraq.

Three suspected jihadists held in Barcelona
Archive photo of a suspected jihadist arrested near Barcelona. Photo: AFP

Spanish authorities began their investigation after becoming aware just before Christmas that the “potentially dangerous” Algerian man was in Spain, police said in a statement.   

The man, a “jihadist” who had fought for the Islamic State group in Iraq, was arrested at a building occupied by squatters in Barcelona's seaside neighbourhood of Barceloneta, the statement added.

Police detained two other Algerian men as part of the operation, one suspected of giving him “logistical support” in Spain and another described by police as has “acolyte”.

The operation was carried out in cooperation with European Union law enforcement agency Europol and the FBI, as well as the intelligence services of Spain and Algeria, the statement said.

The three men appeared before a court on Monday where the presiding judge ordered they be remanded in custody on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organisation.

Their arrest comes as the trial of three men accused of helping the jihadists behind the August 2017 attacks in Barcelona and a nearby town that killed 16 people is wrapping up at a court near Madrid.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks, one of which involved a van ramming people in the centre of Barcelona.   

While none of the three men on trial are charged with direct responsibility, they are in the dock for helping the attackers, who were all shot dead by police.

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