Mauritania detains suspected Islamists - sources

NOUAKCHOTT, June 2 (Reuters) - Mauritanian security services have rounded up dozens of suspected members and supporters of an al Qaeda-linked Islamic rebel group who were plotting attacks, security sources said on Friday.

At least two of the detainees were suspected of killing Mauritanian soldiers in a raid in June 2005 on a remote military post while another was accused of belonging to an al Qaeda cell in Barcelona, Spain, the sources said.

The arrests were made during a manhunt for three suspected members of the Algerian-based militant Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) who escaped from a jail in Mauritania's capital Nouakchott on April 27.

The sources said those arrested were planning attacks, but gave no further details.