Spain arrests suspected al Qaeda member

MADRID, Feb 5 (Reuters) Spain today said it had arrested a suspected member of al Qaeda wanted in his native Morocco for being a member of a banned Algerian militant group.

Mbark El Jaafari is alleged to be a member of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which led an insurgency in Algeria.

Last month, the GSPC adopted the name al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, saying it had the approval of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for the change.

Spain said Moroccan authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for Jaafari, part of a network that recruited volunteers for jihad in Morocco, Algeria and Iraq.

Jaafari, who was arrested in the northeastern town of Reus, may also have received military training in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in 2001, the police statement added.

REUTERS DKA RN1759