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Friday, 24 January, 2003, 22:11 GMT
'Major al-Qaeda attack foiled'
![]() More than 150 police took part in the operation
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar says police have thwarted a "major terrorist attack", following the arrest of 16 suspected al-Qaeda militants in the north-eastern Catalonia region.
More than 150 anti-terrorist police agents took part in the pre-dawn swoop against the suspected al-Qaeda cells in more than a dozen apartments in Barcelona and elsewhere in Catalonia. Mr Aznar said the group had connections to people recently arrested in Britain and France. They have now been brought to Madrid, where they will be held in police custody before being brought before magistrates for questioning. The arrests come two days after an operation in Italy to arrest five Moroccans on charges of illegal possession of explosives. The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner said there had been an unprecedented level of co-operation between the intelligence services of several European countries including Britain's MI6. Suspicious chemicals Mr Aznar, speaking in the north-western city of La Coruna, said those arrested had links to Algerian militant groups.
Interior Minister Angel Acebes said suspicious resins, fuels and other chemicals were being examined, along with electronic equipment, detonators and remote controls for use in bomb-making. Mr Acebes said the suspects were divided into two groups, both led by Algerians. A suspect named as Mohamad Tahraqui was said to be in charge of the Barcelona-based group, while the other operated out of Banolas in neighbouring Gerona province under the leadership of a man named as Bard Eddin Ferdji.
The BBC's Margaret Gilmore says there has been a massive anti-terrorist investigation in the UK since the discovery of traces of ricin in a north London flat several weeks ago. The investigation unearthed a huge number of names and phone numbers of terrorism suspects all over Europe which have been passed on to intelligence officers in the relevant countries. Al-Qaeda meetings "The dismantled network has connections with terrorists arrested recently in France and Britain who were preparing to carry out attacks, using explosives and chemical materials," Mr Aznar said.
Over the course of the past year, Spain has arrested about 20 people thought to have links with the militant Islamic organisation. However, many of these have been released on bail because of lack of evidence. Several of the arrests have taken place in Catalonia, which has a large immigrant population from North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Spain is thought to have hosted a number of important meetings by top al-Qaeda operatives in the run-up to the 11 September attacks on the United States. Mohammed Atta, who led the attacks, is known to have visited Spain twice in the months leading up to them. |
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24 Jan 03 | Politics
08 Jan 03 | Africa
24 Jan 03 | Europe
23 Apr 02 | Europe
14 Apr 02 | Europe
10 Dec 01 | Europe
18 Nov 01 | Europe
22 Jan 03 | Country profiles
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