Felix the Cat
12-21-2005, 04:29 PM
Belarus Citizen Detained in Spain as Islamist Militant (http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/12/20/belarusqaida.shtml)
A citizen of Belarus has been detained in Spain among 16 people suspected of being involved in Al Qaeda operations.
Spanish police arrested 15 people Monday on suspicion of recruiting and indoctrinating fighters for Iraq’s insurgency. The cell was reportedly in close contact with al-Qaeda members in Iraq and had two people ready to be sent there to wage “holy war,” Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso was quoted by AP as saying.
One of the detained was a Belarus citizen, 30-year-old Sergei Malyshev, who took the name of Amin al-Ansari after converting to Islam, Alonso said. Malyshev is said to be a chemical weapons expert. According to the information provided by European secret services, he took part in militant operations in Chechnya, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Other members of the cell were citizens of Lebanon, Egypt, Ghana, Algeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, France and Spain as well as eight Moroccans. The cell was allegedly led by a 25-year-old Iraqi who identified himself as M. Hiyag, the ministry said, adding that he had “very close access” to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born militant who leads al-Qaeda in Iraq and is blamed for most of the terror attacks against the U.S.-led coalition.
A citizen of Belarus has been detained in Spain among 16 people suspected of being involved in Al Qaeda operations.
Spanish police arrested 15 people Monday on suspicion of recruiting and indoctrinating fighters for Iraq’s insurgency. The cell was reportedly in close contact with al-Qaeda members in Iraq and had two people ready to be sent there to wage “holy war,” Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso was quoted by AP as saying.
One of the detained was a Belarus citizen, 30-year-old Sergei Malyshev, who took the name of Amin al-Ansari after converting to Islam, Alonso said. Malyshev is said to be a chemical weapons expert. According to the information provided by European secret services, he took part in militant operations in Chechnya, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Other members of the cell were citizens of Lebanon, Egypt, Ghana, Algeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, France and Spain as well as eight Moroccans. The cell was allegedly led by a 25-year-old Iraqi who identified himself as M. Hiyag, the ministry said, adding that he had “very close access” to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born militant who leads al-Qaeda in Iraq and is blamed for most of the terror attacks against the U.S.-led coalition.