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At least 11 arrests as Police move against alleged Islamic terrorists in Ceuta
By h.b. - Dec 12, 2006 - 12:47 PM

Archive Photo EFE
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The man known as the Spanish Taliban who was held in Guantanamo Bay is among those arrested
There has been a large scale police operation today in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta against an alleged cell linked to Islamic terrorism.

Reports say that at least 11 people have been arrested and searches have been carried out in the Principe Alfonso, Principe Felipe, Los Rosales and Juan Carlos 1 districts of the city. Some 300 National Police are reported to have taken part in today’s operation.

Among the arrested men is Hamed Abderrahaman Ahmed, the Spaniard who was a prisoner in Guantánamo Bay for a time. He has earned the nickname of the 'Spanish Taliban'. This summer he was found not guilty of belonging to a terrorist organisation by the Spanish Supreme Court on what was described at the time as a total lack of proof.

Two of Abderrahaman’s brothers are also said to be among those arrested in the operation which got underway at 4,30am this morning.

Those arrested are said by Europa Press to be members of the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group (GICM). More arrests have not been ruled out.

The Interior Minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, who is in Algeria with the Prime Minister for a high level meeting, has told the press that those arrested did not yet have a set target, but he said that they were thinking about moving into action.

Rubalcaba said that they had been caught in time, that the arrests had been made in the early hours, and that the searches have continued during the day.

So far this year there have been a total of 45 police operations against Islamic terrorism in Spain.