Spain releases 14 Maghrebans suspected of being al-Qaida militants

A Spanish judge has released 14 Maghrebans (north African) accused of being al-Qaida militants after it turned out that the suspected chemical weapons material found in their possession was only laundry detergent.

The group of 16 men was arrested in January during dawn raids on dozens of homes in the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia. The arrests were said to be part of an anti-terrorism operation to flush out international terrorist cells in the country. They were trumpeted as a major triumph in the war on terrorism.

The High Court judge kept the two other men, Mohamed Amine Benamoura and Mohame Tahraoui, in custody for more investigation.

Over the past 14 months, Spain has rounded up about 20 people suspected of having links to al-Qaida, the terrorist network blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Please bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin. Apply for a sales or marketing job!