MADRID // Police arrested three suspected Al Qaeda members thought to have been planning an attack in Spain or elsewhere in Europe and seized enough explosives to blow up a bus, the Spanish government said yesterday`.
"One of the suspects is a very important operative in Al Qaeda's international structure," Jorge Fernandez Diaz, the interior minister, said.
"This is one of the biggest investigations which has been carried out up until now against the Al Qaeda terrorist group at an international level."
Police found the explosives in a flat in the coastal town of La Linea in Andalucia, where one of the men was detained on Wednesday, the minister added.
The two others were arrested earlier on Wednesday in the central province of Ciudad Real while travelling by bus from the south-western port of Cadiz to Irun, up near the French border.
"There is a clear indication that those arrested could have been planning an attack in Spain or [elsewhere] in Europe," Mr Diaz.
One of the two men detained in Ciudad Real had "used uncommon strength to resist arrest, using the military training he received, and special forces had to intervene," he said.
"These are extremely dangerous people."
Police had had the men under surveillance and decided to swoop in and arrest them when it appeared that they were going to leave Spain.
The Turkish man who was arrested at the flat at La Linea works as a logistics expert for Al Qaeda, Mr Diaz said.
The other two were from former Soviet republics, which the minister did not name.
Police sources told a local radio station that the suspects were two Chechens and a Turk. It also said that as well as the explosives they had had been in possession of poison.
While Mr Diaz said police had so far found no poison, he added that the secret services of other nations had informed Spain that one of the suspects "has extensive experience in the manufacture of poison and car bombs".
He would not comment on Spanish media reports that the three men had links to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.
They are blamed for the November 2008 attack on Mumbai that killed 166 people.
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Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
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'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
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