Spanish police arrested 16 people Monday on suspicion of recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq and other countries.
The Interior Ministry said computer material, jihadist propaganda and several mobile phones were seized during pre-dawn raids. No arms or explosives were discovered.
The 16 are accused of spreading propaganda advocating jihad, or holy war, and sending volunteer fighters to groups operating in north Africa and countries in conflict such as Iraq, a ministry statement said.
A National Police spokesman said security forces had been watching the suspects for several months.
The statement said Monday’s operation was connected to one in January 2006 in which 22 people were arrested in raids against jihad recruitment cells across Spain.
Al-Qaida has frequently claimed that it intends to recover “al-Andalus,” a reference to the vast area of Spain ruled by the Moors for 800 years until 1492.
Fourteen of the 16 arrested were Moroccan and two were from Algeria, the ministry said.
Thirteen of the suspects were arrested in Barcelona and two other towns in the northeastern region of Catalonia. Two suspects were arrested in the central town of Aranjuez, and one in the southern city of Malaga, the Interior Ministry said.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington, Spanish police have arrested hundreds of Islamic terror suspects, many in connection with the 2004 train bombings in Madrid, which killed 191 people.
Twenty-nine suspects, most of them Moroccan, are on trial in the Spanish capital for their alleged roles in the train attacks. Islamic radicals claimed responsibility for the bombings and said they were to avenge the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In recent years, security forces have focused on rounding up suspected militants for allegedly recruiting fighters and suicide bombers or for collecting money to finance al-Qaida and linked groups abroad.
Many of the arrests have taken place in Catalonia, a region with a traditionally strong North African immigrant presence.
