16 December 2004

GUADALAJARA- Two men suspected of Islamic terrorist links arrested this week in Spain were arrested near a nuclear-powered electricity-generating plant, authorities said.

Officials in the central region of Guadalajara said on 30 September that a police patrol stopped and briefly questioned Moroccan Mohamed El Ouazzani and Moroccan-born Khalid Zeimi Pardo close to the Zorita nuclear power plant.

The men were asked for their papers at the time, and after it was confirmed that they were in the country legally and had no criminal records, were let go.

Ouazzani and Zeimi Pardo were among five men arrested Tuesday in three Spanish cities in connection with investigations into the bombings of trains in Madrid last March.

Zeimi Pardo, who has Spanish citizenship, is expected to be questioned on Thursday by an investigating magistrate.

Police claim that Zeimi Pardo was a close friend of Serhane Ben Abdelmajid, "The Tunisian," who committed suicide in April in the Leganes section of Madrid, and others linked to the 11 March.

The arrests on Tuesday came in the course of "Operation Nova," which, in two previous phases, managed to dismantle several terrorist cells that were planning to attack the National Court complex in Madrid, among other targets.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news