Spanish police find Dutch link in terrorist networks
The Spanish authorities have said that the Netherlands was one of the main junctions for a terrorist network which was rounded up in Spain on Tuesday, Dutch daily De Telegraaf reported Wednesday.
Twenty people were arrested in police raids in Madrid and the Barcelona region, who were suspected of recruiting militants to fight in Iraq and also planning attacks in Europe, the paper said.
The operation focused on two closely related terrorist cells that have ties with the Netherlands, said Spanish minister of home affairs, Jose Antonio Alonso.
Among the detainees are three Spanish nationals, 15 Moroccans, one Turk and one Algerian.
The cell near Barcelona is said to be responsible for the suicide attack on an Italian army base in southern Iraq in November 2003. The Madrid-based terror suspects were allegedly busy preparing attacks in Europe.
Both cells were affiliated with the Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain (GICM) and the Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat (GSPC). These groups have links to the al-Qaeda network and are also active in the Netherlands.
In the past few months, Spanish police detained a number of suspects, some of whom have Dutch ties. One of them is a Moroccan who travels to the Netherlands on a regular basis, and another is an Algerian who was deported from the Netherlands in 2004. Enditem
Twenty people were arrested in police raids in Madrid and the Barcelona region, who were suspected of recruiting militants to fight in Iraq and also planning attacks in Europe, the paper said.
The operation focused on two closely related terrorist cells that have ties with the Netherlands, said Spanish minister of home affairs, Jose Antonio Alonso.
Among the detainees are three Spanish nationals, 15 Moroccans, one Turk and one Algerian.
The cell near Barcelona is said to be responsible for the suicide attack on an Italian army base in southern Iraq in November 2003. The Madrid-based terror suspects were allegedly busy preparing attacks in Europe.
Both cells were affiliated with the Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain (GICM) and the Groupe Salafiste pour la Predication et le Combat (GSPC). These groups have links to the al-Qaeda network and are also active in the Netherlands.
In the past few months, Spanish police detained a number of suspects, some of whom have Dutch ties. One of them is a Moroccan who travels to the Netherlands on a regular basis, and another is an Algerian who was deported from the Netherlands in 2004. Enditem
posted by Marko at 1/12/2006 12:24:00 AM
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