National
18 alleged Islamic terrorists arrested in Spain, eight said to be members of Al Qaeda
By h.b. - Jun 10, 2008 - 12:22 PM
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Police say the operation remains open and more arrests have not been ruled out.
A total of 18 people have been arrested across the country for their alleged links to Islamic terrorism and eight of those detained are claimed to be members of Al Qaeda.
Two of the arrests took place in the Raval district of Barcelona, five in Castellón and one in Pamplona.
National police say the detained are thought to have been engaged in recruitment activities and the financing Islamic groups and have links to the Al Qaeda for the Islamic Maghreb organisation. The additional ten arrested are under investigation to see whether they have links to the central eight who have been named as follows: Mohamed Bouacha (1971, El Harrach), Mohamed Souic (1971, Bouzereah), Youcef Haddallah (1981, Argel), Mourad Ait Kaid (1972, Kouba) y Abdennour Chettah (1972, Kouba) arrested in Castellón. In Barcelona there were two arrests, Sid Ali Taukoucht (1968, Pallat) and Abdelghani Himmouri (1979, Becha), while there was one arrest in Pamplona, Mustapha Yousfi (1972, Oran).
All 18 arrested are said to be from Algeria, and police say that more detentions have not been ruled out in the case. Some 7,000 € in cash and a large amount of documentation has also been seized by the police in this new operation, code-named ‘Submarino’.
It is separate however from another anti-Islamic terrorist operation which was carried out in Barcelona last January and ended with several arrests and claims the group was planning to bomb the city.