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Police detain 14 in raid on suspected terror cell in Spain

Spanish police have smashed a suspected Islamist terror cell, arresting 14 people and recovering bomb-making equipment in overnight raids in Barcelona, the interior minister said on Saturday.

"During our searches, we found various materials which could be explosives or be used to make explosives," Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told a press conference in Madrid.

Those arrested included 12 Pakistanis and two Indians, he said.

Four timing devices as well as computer equipment which was still being examined were also recovered.

According to Spanish media reports, a 15th person was arrested late Saturday night in Barcelona -- although there was no immediate confirmation from police in the city.

The man, aged about 60, is thought to own a bakery near to a mosque searched by police.

Rubalcaba said that the group could be characterized as "radical Islamist," was "highly organized" and was preparing to carry out an attack in the northeastern Spanish city.

FIVE HOMES

The operation, which saw five homes raided by police, was carried out on the basis of information gathered by Spain's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies.

The intelligence suggested "the possibility that a terrorist action was being prepared on Spanish soil, in Barcelona to be precise," Rubalcaba said.

Police then "detected an organized group suspected of gathering materials used to make explosives," and decided immediately to swoop, he said.

He added that it was "probable" that some of the 14 were innocent.

Private radio station Cadena Ser reported that the suspects were believed to have links to a financial network for certain branches of al-Qaeda.

All the arrests took place in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona, home to a large Muslim immigrant population, media reports said.

Last May in Barcelona, authorities dismantled a network that was recruiting fighters and funding militant organizations in North Africa and Iraq.

Thirteen Moroccans and two Algerians were arrested in that case.

On March 11, 2004, simultaneous bombings on commuter trains in Madrid left 191 people dead.

MUSHARRAF VISIT

Newspaper El Pais reported on its Web site that Spanish authorities had warned France, Portugal and Britain of the possibility of attacks on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf during a visit to Europe this week.

Small groups composed principally of Pakistanis were preparing to carry out attacks "imminently," the report cited Spanish intelligence agency sources as saying.

Musharraf was to begin a European tour yesterday including stops in Brussels and in France and Britain. He will also attend the the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, speaking in Portugal, praised the intelligence services for the raids, but called on the public not to jump to conclusions about those arrested.
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