Spanish police arrest 7 linked to Islamist militants

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish police have arrested seven
people suspected of funding an Algerian Islamist group linked
to al Qaeda, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said on
Friday.

The seven, seized on Spain’s Costa del Sol, provided money
– obtained from theft, smuggling and credit card fraud — and
logistical support to Algeria’s largest outlawed militant
organization, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.

But Alonso told a news conference: “There is nothing which
might lead us to think they had plans for imminent attacks in
Spain.”

The ministry said in a statement further arrests were not
ruled out and state radio, which earlier put the number
detained at eight, said the number of people arrested could
rise to 10, including two women.

Police, who had been following the group for months, found
links between the seven arrested and individuals elsewhere in
Europe and have notified police in several other European
countries, the ministry said.

Spanish police have stepped up their efforts against
Islamist militants since last year’s al Qaeda-linked bomb
attacks on four Madrid commuter trains which killed 191 people.

Last month police arrested 11 people linked to the same
group in raids in southern Spain following a 10-month
investigation.