Al-Qaida suspects to face Spanish court

Sixteen suspected al Qaida terrorists will go before a Spanish judge for preliminary questioning tomorrow.

Investigating magistrate Guillermo Ruiz Polanco, who ordered yesterday’s arrests in Catalonia following a request from France, has called the 16 to the National Court at noon tomorrow, court officials said today.

The suspects today remained behind bars at a police station in Madrid.

After the questioning, the judge’s options are to release them without charges or on bail, or jail them while he continues his probe.

The suspects were arrested in a series of pre-dawn raids on 12 homes in Barcelona and other cities in north-east Spain.

Spanish authorities said those arrested had explosives, chemicals and false passports, and were linked to suspected terrorists arrested recently in Britain and France. Authorities said the 16 men, mostly Algerians, planned to attack unspecified targets.