Annabel Grossman
SPANISH police have arrested two suspected terrorists with links to the North African branch of Al-Qaeda.
One of the men, Algerian Nou Mediouni, was arrested in the northern city of Zaragoza while the other, Moroccan Hassan El Jaaouani, was detained in the southern region of Murcia.
The police believe Mediouni had been recruited by the North African branch of the Islamist extremist network and had been instructed to travel to a ‘jihadist training camp located in northern Mali’.
El Jaaouani is suspected of working on the recruitment of radicals for Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a militant group that has declared its intention to attack Spain and other European targets.
According to a police statement, the profiles of the suspects followed those of the two Boston bombers.
Although neither suspect was known to possess any explosives nor be planning an attack, one is alleged to have praised the marathon bombings.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said the pair had been under surveillance by Spanish police for over a year but had recently ‘become radicalised’ and consulted jihadist internet sites.
It added that the arrests were the result of a joint operation between Spain, France and Morocco, but declined to say whether the suspects had been planning an attack or simply providing support to Al-Qaeda.
Good!!!