[ALMANAR.LB] Spanish and Moroccan police placed in durance vileDrop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
on Tuesday four people on suspicion of recruiting imported muscle for the ISIL terrorist organization during a joint operation, Spanish police said in a statement.
Three people were detained in Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city located in northern Africa on border with Morocco, and another one in the Moroccan city of Nador.
According to the Spanish Interior Ministry, purported ISIL recruiters are suspected of sending people to Syria and Iraq.
Stars & Stripes adds the meaty part:
One of those detained in Ceuta was a former Guantanamo detainee who was not named by Spanish authorities but described as "a leader who was trained in handling weapons, explosives and in military tactics." After being captured in 2002 and held in Guantanamo, he was returned to Spain in 2004, said Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz.
Betcha they were glad to get him back!
Another suspect was the brother of a fighter who blew himself up during an attack in Syria and man detained Tuesday "was inclined to do the same thing," he said.
"Here, lemme show you!"
The suspects had set up contacts to try to acquire weapons and bomb-making materials and were aiming "to carry out terrorist acts in Spanish territory," the Spanish ministry statement said, without specifying possible targets. They also worked to recruit teenagers from Ceuta to join IS in Iraq and Syria, the Spanish statement said.
"Hey, little kid! You want a quick trip to Paradise?"
"Duh... Sure!"
Spanish police arrested about 100 suspected Islamic extremists last year and more than 600 total since the 2004 train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people and injured nearly 2,000.