Enviado: 19/10/2004 11:23Spain arrests 8th person in suspected bomb plot
19/10/2004 11:19
By Estelle Shirbon
MADRID, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Spanish police have arrested an eighth suspected member of a radical Islamic cell that was plotting to attack the High Court in Madrid, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said on Tuesday.
Police arrested seven suspected Islamic militants in raids across Spain late on Monday, which came seven months after train bombings by Islamic militants killed 191 people in Madrid.
"They were talking about an attack on the High Court or another judicial body but police are not ruling out other possible targets," Alonso told reporters.
"I can confirm an eighth person has been arrested in (the northern city of) Pamplona," he said, giving no further details.
The High Court handles cases of terrorism and other special crimes and is where the suspected Madrid train bombers are under investigation.
Investigators had not found any evidence of direct contacts between the latest suspects and the train bombing suspects, daily newspaper ABC said, citing police sources.
ABC said police had not, however, ruled out that such contacts may have taken place.
The minister said police had not found weapons or explosives in their raids, and that the operation was ongoing.
The arrests were part of a High Court judge's investigation into a violent Islamic network operating in Spain.
The seven suspects arrested on Monday, including four Algerians and one Moroccan, were detained in the southern region of Andalusia, the Mediterranean city of Valencia and Madrid, according to an Interior Ministry statement.
They were residents in Spain and most of them had served time in prison. They were in contact with other individuals in Europe, the United States and Australia, the statement said.
One of the men arrested was an informer for Spain's intelligence service, El Pais newspaper reported.
Police started investigating the suspects during the summer and have wiretaps in which the men discuss the need to organise a major attack with explosives, Spanish news agency Europa Press said, citing police sources.
None of the conversations were with people who could have provided explosives, the agency said. ((Editing by Jeremy Laurence; tel +34 91 585 2158; fax +34 91 435 966; email: estelle.shirbon@reuters.com; madrid.newsroom@reuters.com))
19/10/2004 11:19
By Estelle Shirbon
MADRID, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Spanish police have arrested an eighth suspected member of a radical Islamic cell that was plotting to attack the High Court in Madrid, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said on Tuesday.
Police arrested seven suspected Islamic militants in raids across Spain late on Monday, which came seven months after train bombings by Islamic militants killed 191 people in Madrid.
"They were talking about an attack on the High Court or another judicial body but police are not ruling out other possible targets," Alonso told reporters.
"I can confirm an eighth person has been arrested in (the northern city of) Pamplona," he said, giving no further details.
The High Court handles cases of terrorism and other special crimes and is where the suspected Madrid train bombers are under investigation.
Investigators had not found any evidence of direct contacts between the latest suspects and the train bombing suspects, daily newspaper ABC said, citing police sources.
ABC said police had not, however, ruled out that such contacts may have taken place.
The minister said police had not found weapons or explosives in their raids, and that the operation was ongoing.
The arrests were part of a High Court judge's investigation into a violent Islamic network operating in Spain.
The seven suspects arrested on Monday, including four Algerians and one Moroccan, were detained in the southern region of Andalusia, the Mediterranean city of Valencia and Madrid, according to an Interior Ministry statement.
They were residents in Spain and most of them had served time in prison. They were in contact with other individuals in Europe, the United States and Australia, the statement said.
One of the men arrested was an informer for Spain's intelligence service, El Pais newspaper reported.
Police started investigating the suspects during the summer and have wiretaps in which the men discuss the need to organise a major attack with explosives, Spanish news agency Europa Press said, citing police sources.
None of the conversations were with people who could have provided explosives, the agency said. ((Editing by Jeremy Laurence; tel +34 91 585 2158; fax +34 91 435 966; email: estelle.shirbon@reuters.com; madrid.newsroom@reuters.com))