Spanish police have arrested an alleged Islamic terrorist with links to al-Qaeda. Algerian Tahar Izerouali was wanted by police as a supposed member of terrorist organisation Ansar al Islam, which has been linked to al-Qaeda. The terrorist cell allegedly supplies false documents and cash to other Islamic extremists across Europe.Before his arrest, Tahar Izerouali, 35, was leading a normal life in Bilbao, despite being named in an international arrest warrant. He lived in Santutxu, in Bilbao, and worked as a painter.
He has been sent to Madrid where he will face [Judge Garzon] later this week. Izerouel is one of the eight alleged members of a gang linked to al-Qaeda who appeared before a court in Madrid accused of terrorist offences. They are all said to have supplied logistic support for the Septemebr 11 attacks in the US. Garzon said they developed "a network of forgery of documents to provide false identities or fake documents to other members of the network to help them move about, flee or hide or (to help) with their terrorist activities or links with organizations such as Ansar al-Islam, under the orders of Abu Musab al Zarqawi."