MADRID: Spanish police arrested three suspected Al-Qaeda members thought to have been planning an attack in Spain or elsewhere in Europe and seized explosives, the government said Thursday.
Good going! Now roll up their networks, financing and supporters...
Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz told a news conference that one of the three men was a very important operative in Al-Qaedas international structure.
Two of the men were arrested on a bus heading for the French border and the other in a flat in the town of La Linea de Concepcion, in the southern province of Andalucia, where police also discovered the explosives. The arrests came within hours of each other on Wednesday.
This is one of the biggest investigations which has been carried out up until now against the Al-Qaeda terrorist group at an international level, said Diaz. He described the men as extremely dangerous people.
Police also found documents relating to flying light aircraft.
The two on the bus were arrested in Almuradiel in the central province of Ciudad Real while traveling from Cadiz to Irun near the French border.
There is a clear indication that those arrested could have been planning an attack in Spain or in Europe, Diaz told reporters.
The suspect detained in the flat at La Linea is a Turkish national described by the minister as an Al-Qaeda logistics expert while the other two are from former Soviet republics which the minister did not name. Earlier on Thursday Cadena Ser radio, citing police sources, said the suspects were two Chechens and a Turk and were in possession of poison as well as explosives.
The minister said police had so far found no poison but he said the secret services of other nations had informed Spain that one of the suspects has extensive experience in the manufacture of poison and car bombs.
He declined to comment on Spanish media reports that the three men had links to Pakistans Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group blamed for the November 2008 attack on Mumbai that killed 166 people.
The minister said one of the two men detained in Ciudad Real used uncommon strength to resist arrest, using the military training he received, and special forces had to intervene.
Police had the men under surveillance and decided to arrest them when it appeared that they were going to leave Spain.
The investigation has been assigned to a judge at Spains top criminal court, the National Audience which has jusridiction over terrorism cases and international crimes.
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WELL , IT's About France , Italy , Schwitzerland , And Belgium ! Not Germany , T'was , This Time , Around !
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MADRID: Spanish police arrested three suspected Al-Qaeda members thought to have been planning an attack in Spain or elsewhere in Europe and seized explosives, the government said Thursday.
