Eight terror suspects arrested in Spain

Eight terror suspects arrested in Spain

2010-12-02 02:06:23 GMT+7 (ICT)

BARCELONA, SPAIN (BNO NEW) —Eight men suspected of being linked with radical Islamic cells in Pakistan, as well as participating in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, were arrested by Spanish authorities, officials said Wednesday.

According to Spain's Interior Ministry, the terror network is being accused of stealing passports and sending them to Thailand, where they were falsified and delivered to terrorist groups. Meanwhile, Thai authorities arrested three people involved in the scheme.

Police conducted the raids on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning after a 18-month-long investigation in which it was estimated that the group stole around 40 passports a month.

Spanish National Police arrested the men in Badalona and the Raval neighborhood in Barcelona, who according to officials, would provide these documents, as well as funds, to organizations linked with al-Qaeda, principally Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers.

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