Spain police arrest 4 suspected Islamist forgers

MADRID, Nov 7: Spanish police have arrested four men suspected of forging documents so that Islamists fighters could travel to Spain from Iraq, the Interior Ministry said today.

''Four men have been detained for a suspected crime of collaborating with an Islamist terrorist organisation and falsifying documents with the aim of favouring terrorist activity,'' it said.

The men, three Algerians and an Egyptian, are believed to have formed part of a network helping mujahideen fighters establish themselves in Spain or move from other European countries, police said.

Police also confiscated material used for forging documents as well as 21,600 euros in cash and falsified identity documents.

A series of bombs on packed commuter trains, thought to have been planted by Islamist militants, killed 191 people in Madrid in March 2004. A trial against 29 suspects, mostly North Africans, is expected to start in Madrid in February.

Reuters