[1] Three Saudi Arabians were arrested for the plot, followed by several Moroccan Islamists, many members of Salafia Jihadia.
[2][3][4] The three Saudi nationals arrested were Zuher al-Tbaiti, the suspected ringleader, and Abdullah al-Ghamdi and Hilal al-Assiri.
[2] The men had reportedly been instructed to the plot by a senior aide to Osama bin Laden based in Pakistan, named "Abu Bilal", suspected by authorities to be Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri who later reportedly confessed to having been behind the plot.
[5] In 2003, NATO began escorting civilian ships through the Strait of Gibraltar amid fears of terrorist attacks.
[8] The Strait was mentioned as a target by Al-Qaeda in 2014, when through its magazine Resurgence it urged its followers of attacks against central transport hubs to destabilise the world economy.