Spanish police search homes in Theo van Gogh probe

Spanish police seized documents and computer material from three homes at the request of Dutch authorities investigating the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, authorities said today.

The raids were carried out yesterday in Madrid, in the town of Paterna in the eastern Valencia region, and in Fuengirola, southern Spain, a police official said.

The official said the homes were once occupied or visited by two Chechens allegedly linked to Mohammed Bouyeri, who confessed to killing van Gogh in Amsterdam in November 2004 and is now serving a life sentence.

One of the Chechens was identified as Bislan Ismailov, who was arrested in France in May as part of the van Gogh investigation.

The other is Kazbek Ismailov, who is in jail in Peru on unrelated charges, the Spanish police official said.

Van Gogh had angered Muslims with a documentary film that criticised the way women are treated under Islam.