Robert Wilson - The Hidden Assassins

'How's your first day been back at school?'

'It's more like the first day as a new member of a club. Everybody's sizing me up, some are friendly, others suspicious and a few are unfriendly. It's like in any organization, I've come in at a certain level and been welcomed by my equals, but I'm despised as a usurper by those who thought they were becoming important. There's a hierarchy here. There has to be. It's an organization with a military wing. The striking difference is that the commander-in-chief is not a man, but Allah. No action by this group, or any of the others that they read about, is referred to without mention of the ultimate source of the commands. We're constantly reminded that we're involved in a Holy War. It is powerful and inspirational and I've come back feeling dazed. Home seems strange, or rather, extremely banal after a day spent with people so certain of their place and destiny in the will of Allah. I can see how powerfully this would work on a young mind. They're also clever at depersonalizing the enemy, who are rarely specific people-unless you count Tony Blair and George Bush-but rather the decadence and godlessness that has engulfed the West. I suppose it's easier to bomb decadence and godlessness than it is men, women and children.'

'Any talk about what happened in Seville on 6th June?'

'They talk about nothing else. The Spanish satellite news is avidly watched for more information, but it's not so easy to work out the extent of their involvement.'

'Any talk about Djamel Hammad and Smail Saoudi and what they were doing bringing 100 kilos of hexogen to Seville?'

'I'm not sure how much is speculation and how much is hard fact. You must understand that these people are not the GICM themselves. They support the actions of the GICM, and some members have been involved in their activities, but mainly on the home front. Don't think that I've walked off the street into a tent full of mujahedeen with AK-47s. At this stage, I can only tell you what has happened rather than what will happen, as that is only known by the GICM commanders, who, as far as I know, are not here.

'My friends tell me that Hammad and Saoudi have worked for a number of groups, not just the GICM. They fund themselves through cash-machine fraud. They were only involved in recce, logistics and documents. They were not bomb makers. The hexogen came from Iraq. It was extracted from an American ammunitions cache captured at the beginning of 2005. It went via Syria into Turkey, where it was repackaged as cheap washing powder and sent to Germany in containers, for sale to the immigrant Turkish community there. Nobody knows how it got to Spain. The total quantity sent to Germany in the washing powder consignment is believed to be around 300 kilos.'

'Any speculation about how they intended to use it?' asked Falcon.

'No. All they say is that everything in the Spanish press and news is total fabrication: Abdullah Azzam's text, the MILA, the intention to attack schools and the biology faculty and the idea of bringing Andalucia back into the Islamic fold. They want to bring Andalucia back into Islam, but not yet. Making Morocco an Islamic state with Sharia law is the priority and we talked about that, which is of no interest to you. The current strategy, as far as foreign operations are concerned, is not specific, although they are still very angry with the Danish and think they should be punished. They want to weaken the European Union economically by forcing huge expenditure on antiterrorist measures. They plan to attack financial centres in Northern Europe, namely London, Frankfurt, Paris and Milan, while conducting smaller campaigns in the tourist areas of the Mediterranean.'

'Ambitious.'

'There's a lot of big talk. As to their capability…who knows?'

'The hexogen in Seville doesn't seem to fit with their general strategy.'

'They say the hexogen exploding was nothing to do with them.'

'And how do they know that?'

'Because the "hardware" for making the bombs had not arrived,' wrote Yacoub. 'Given that Hammad and Saoudi were recce and logistics, I assume there were others who were due to arrive with the "hardware"-the containers, plastique, detonators and timers-from some other source.'

'How much of this do you believe?' asked Falcon.

'There is definitely something going on. There's a tension and uncertainty in the air. I can't be more specific than that. This is information that has come to me. I am not enquiring as yet. I haven't asked about operational cells in Spain, for instance. I can only gather from the way people talk that there are operators in the field doing something.'

Falcon's mobile vibrated on the desktop. He took the call from Ramirez while Pablo and Gregorio talked over his head.

'Cristina has found a domestic who saw Tateb Hassani on Saturday evening, before dinner. His name is Mario Gomez. He says that the dinner wasn't served but laid out as a buffet, but he saw Tateb Hassani, Eduardo Rivero and Angel Zarrias going up to the Fuerza Andalucia offices just before he left, which was around 9.45.'

'He didn't see anybody else?'

'He said no cars had arrived by the time he left.'

'I think that's going to be good enough,' said Falcon and hung up.

'Ask him if he's heard any names, anything that will give us a clue as to a network operating over here,' said Pablo.

Falcon typed out the question.

'They don't use names. Their knowledge of foreign operations is vague. They are more informative about the present state of Morocco than anything abroad.'

'Any foreigners?' asked Pablo. 'Afghans, Pakistanis, Saudis…?'

Falcon tapped it out.

'One mention of some Afghans who came over earlier this year, nothing else.'

'Context?'

'I couldn't say.'

'Where does the group meet?'

'It's in a private house in the medina in Rabat, but I was brought here and I'm not sure I could find it again.'

'Look for clues in your surroundings. Documents. Books. Anything that might indicate research.'

'There's a library which I've been shown, but I haven't spent any time there.'

'Get access and tell us what books they have.'

'I have been told/warned that there will be an initiation rite, which is designed to show my allegiance to the group. Everybody has to go through this, whatever your connections to the senior members may be. They have assured me that it will not require violence.'

'Do they know about your friendship with me?' asked Falcon.

'Of course they do, and that worries me. I know how their minds work. They will make me show allegiance to them by forcing me to betray the confidence of someone close to me.'

The 'chat' was over. Falcon sat back from the computer, a little shattered by the last exchange. The CNI men looked at him to see how he'd taken this new level of involvement.

'In case you're wondering,' said Falcon, 'I didn't like the sound of that.'

'We can't expect just to receive information in this game,' said Gregorio.

'I'm a senior policeman,' said Falcon. 'I can't compromise my position by giving out confidential information.'

'We don't know what he's going to be asked to do yet,' said Pablo.

'I didn't like the look of that word "betray",' said Falcon. 'That doesn't sound like they're going to be satisfied with my favourite colour, does it?'

Pablo shook his head at Gregorio.

'Anything else?' said Pablo.

'If they know about me, what's to say they don't know about the next step we've taken?' said Falcon. 'That I came over to make Yacoub one of our spies. He employs ten or fifteen people around his house. How do you know that he's "safe", that he's not going to be turned, and that they still think that I'm just a friend?'

'We have our own people on the inside,' said Pablo.

'Working for Yacoub?'