Spanish police arrest 11 terror suspects

Spanish police have arrested 11 people linked to the Islamic terror network run by Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, and another five suspects in the Madrid train bombings of last year, police said today.

Some 500 Spanish police took part in raids that led to the arrests, the Interior Ministry said.

The arrests were made in Madrid; the north-eastern Catalonia region; Andalusia in the south; the Levante region of eastern Spain; and Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the northern coast of Morocco, police said.

Al-Zarqawi is accused of being al-Qaida’s main operative.

The ministry said the first group of 11 people belonged to a terrorist network that was established in Spain and linked to Ansar al-Islam, which it called the group run by al-Zarqawi.

It said they were arrested in Barcelona, Valencia and the southern city of Cadiz, but did not specify when.

The other five were linked to last year’s commuter train bombing in Madrid, which killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500.

They were arrested yesterday in Madrid and Barcelona, the statement said.