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People stand next to candles and flowers placed on the ground. Santi Palacios/AP

Police extend search for Barcelona attacker to all of Europe

They warn the attacker could be at large outside Spain.

Updated at 9.55am

THE MANHUNT FOR the main suspect in last week’s Barcelona attack has been extended to all of Europe, a Catalan government official said this morning.

Catalonia’s interior minister Joaquim Forn told local radio that Spanish authorities were officially notifying European police of the identity of the driver who ploughed his van into crowds on the busy Las Ramblas district on Thursday.

“We have to talk to European police to notify them of the identity because this person… is likely being sought in all European countries,” Forn said.

Earlier Spanish authorities said they hoped to identify all 14 victims of the deadly attacks in Catalonia and the members of the terror cell behind it, as a manhunt deepened for one suspect still at large.

With the 12-person cell dismantled, police were hunting a 22-year-old Moroccan man, Younes Abouyaaqoub, suspected of driving the van used in Barcelona.

Investigators believe the terror cell comprised at least 12 men, some of them teenagers. An imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, 40, is among the suspects, believed to have radicalised youths in Ripoll, a small town at the foot of the Pyrenees, where several suspects – including Abouyaaqoub – grew up or lived.

Spanish media said the imam had spent time in prison. El Pais and El Mundo said he had met prisoners linked to the Al-Qaeda-inspired bombing of Madrid trains that killed 191 people in March 2004, the worst terror attack in Europe.

The imam has been missing since Tuesday. On Saturday, police raided his apartment. They have raised the possibility that he died in an explosion Wednesday evening at a house believed to be the suspects’ bomb-making factory, where police uncovered a cache of 120 gas canisters.

The suspected jihadists had been preparing bombs for “one or more attacks in Barcelona”, regional police chief Josep Lluis Trapero told reporters, revealing that traces of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) – a homemade explosive that is an IS hallmark – had also been found.

The suspects accidentally caused an explosion at the house on the eve of Thursday’s attack in Barcelona – an error that likely forced them to modify their plans.

Instead, they used a vehicle to smash into crowds on Las Ramblas boulevard as it was thronged with tourists, killing 13 people and injuring about 100.

Several hours later, a similar attack in the seaside town of Cambrils left one woman dead. Police shot and killed the five attackers in Cambrils, some of whom were wearing fake explosive belts and carrying knives.

The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attacks, believed to be its first in Spain.

‘No music, no children, no women’

SPAIN-BARCELONA-MASS Police outside the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Xinhua News Agency / PA Images Xinhua News Agency / PA Images / PA Images

In the small town of Alcanar, investigators combed the rubble of the house believed to be the suspects’ bomb factory, where the gas canisters were uncovered.

A neighbour, 61-year-old French retiree Martine Groby, told AFP that four men “who all speak French” had been in the house next door since April.

“They were very discreet, too discreet. The shutters were closed, there was no music, no children, no women,” she recalled.

Most of the suspects are children of Moroccan immigrants, including Ripoll-born Moussa Oukabir, 17, one of five suspects shot dead in Cambrils. His older brother Driss is among the four arrested.

A cousin said Moussa “loved playing football, having a good time, chatting up girls”.

“The last few months, he started to become interested in religion. He used to go to a mosque in Ripoll. Maybe that’s where he was brainwashed,” the cousin said.

© – AFP, 2017

Read: Spanish authorities confirm missing boy died in Barcelona attack

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    Mute Peter Gavin
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:14 PM

    And they advertise it in the newspaper because that’s where all the best digital talent looks for work. #clueless

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    Mute Jack Ripper
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:16 PM

    LOL. Good point.

    66
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    Mute Eileen Roche
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:54 PM

    They will be looking for the best liar in Ireland.

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    Mute Dermot Ryan
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    Aug 15th 2014, 2:08 PM

    “A team player” …Omerta vital, forked tongue essential;- ?
    Is that what that means

    46
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    Mute andrew
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    Aug 15th 2014, 2:42 PM

    Should drop over to the Israeli Embassy. Past masters.

    32
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    Mute Dave O'Hanlon
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    Aug 15th 2014, 2:19 PM

    I thought Seanie Ryan was there social media officer

    55
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    Mute Martin Malone
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:25 PM

    All these parties already have a social media presence. Does this mean all the parties media trolls are getting proper jobs???

    42
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    Mute Dermot Ryan
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:38 PM

    It means Angela and co. are afraid of their she-ite that Independents will anhialate the network that they have nurtured in this Country for years – that’s what it means !

    26
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    Mute Robespierre
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:16 PM

    To be fair to the political parties, they adopt public sector standards for recruitment and that includes adds in the national press. There is every chance an applicant could be hired by referral.

    39
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    Mute Jack Ripper
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:05 PM

    They should get Glen. He is an experienced shill =P

    34
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    Mute Donal Costello
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:08 PM

    I’m beginning to think that Gen might be Gizmo….

    24
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    Mute Dermot Ryan
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:35 PM

    Seanie Ryan will be pissed off ….maybe he knows that he was used now – like the rest of us …ah well vengeance is always Paddy’s favourite game !

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    Mute Boganity
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    Aug 15th 2014, 3:29 PM

    And they did it in the print media…that means they’ll be ready for government in about ten years or so.

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    Mute Dermot Ryan
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:43 PM

    Fianna Fail the Party that gave us Mark Killilea who came back boasting from Europe that he had secured c.6 billion and who a few years later gave 64 billion back ; who would ever vote for them again except a crooked eejit ?
    Party over Mechole ! – Party over !

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    Mute BeeGee
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:13 PM

    I’ll bet that the phone in that picture isn’t even switched on

    27
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    Mute Mr Phil Officer
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    Aug 15th 2014, 2:32 PM

    Job requirements: honest hardworking decent upstanding people do not apply.

    26
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    Mute thetruth
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:26 PM

    Nindividual? Last paragraph of their ad

    22
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    Mute Peter Gavin
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:56 PM

    Guess they also need a copywriter!

    15
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    Mute Reg
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:57 PM

    Roll up the modern version of Frank Dunlop or PJ Mara!

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    Mute James Gorman
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    Aug 15th 2014, 1:24 PM

    Paddy Power would give them a lesson

    18
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    Mute Karen Twomey
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    Aug 15th 2014, 3:26 PM

    I suppose we’ll have Mehole tweeting about rubber duckies soon so

    17
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    Mute Stephen
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    Aug 15th 2014, 2:28 PM

    Sure they had most of the newspapers working for them at one stage

    17
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    Mute Paddy Hannigan
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    Aug 15th 2014, 2:54 PM

    Newspapers in decline because the public figured out that most of what was printed was controled by the parties. Now they are going to try the same online. Lets see how that works out for them. Expect ‘intresting’ new posters on The Journal ect.

    17
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    Mute Jay J Murphy
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    Aug 15th 2014, 2:29 PM

    Fianna do fak all

    16
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    Mute Mindfulirish
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    Aug 15th 2014, 4:21 PM

    Will the person be paid in cash?

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    Mute cillian32
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    Aug 15th 2014, 4:58 PM

    Yes mindfulirish… Brown envelopes stuffed with cash!!!

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    Mute Andy Cahalan
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    Aug 15th 2014, 3:55 PM

    Planning an innovative Facebook tax scheme no doubt!

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    Mute Paddy Hannigan
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    Aug 15th 2014, 5:18 PM

    Social Media allowence for TD’s on the way.

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    Mute Rochelle
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    Aug 15th 2014, 3:47 PM

    In 2014 Irish politics is finally realising the prevalence of the internet and that maybe just maybe the public respond better to Twitter Q&A’s than a grinning eejit on a lampost poster? 10 years behind as always but better late than never.

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    Mute Derek Richardson
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    Aug 15th 2014, 4:51 PM

    Haaha look at your man ringing up the bookies to put another bet on

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    Mute E=MC2
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    Aug 15th 2014, 10:02 PM

    Prior to trekking out to vote in the recent local elections I visited the web sites of each party and independent candidate in the constituency. None of the sites had clearly spelled-out and costed policies, the focus was on aspirations and populist messages with the Greens and SF being the biggest offenders. But Fine Gael did have some short videos that were better and more professional than the other parties. That they had made the effort to properly inform the internet generation was the factor which persuaded me to give FG my number 1.
    I look forward to seeing what FF produce.

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    Mute Dermot Ryan
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    Aug 15th 2014, 11:05 PM

    You based your vote on a video produced by this government with all the resources they have – what a spiffing idea !

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    Mute Michael Farrelly
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    Aug 16th 2014, 3:55 PM

    You did what ?

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    Mute E=MC2
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    Aug 17th 2014, 7:13 AM

    Yes, it was, thanks for agreeing. I had little choice as up to the night before polling I had not managed to interview any knowledgeable canvassers from any party. It was visit the web sites or pick a name from a hat.

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    Mute R Neuville
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    Aug 17th 2014, 1:13 PM

    Independents Day:
    Political Parties are just private clubs who pass Pro-Lobby Laws not Pro-Citizen laws. FF/ Greens annual Car Tax Law case in point. A most blatantly regressive “Pro-Lobby” law that makes those who can’t afford new cars subsidise the wealthy who can. €951 per annum road tax for a 10 yr old car while a new equivalent is just €280. Ireland a disgusting place to live. Social Media is a powerful force to enlighten voters (not just for Tunisia, Libya and Egypt!) and ensure they bring their brains to the Polling Booths and put an end to these private “lobby” clubs.

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