Spain arrests 15 suspected Islamic militants

MADRID, May 28 (Reuters) Spanish police said they arrested 15 people in a wide-ranging operation against Islamic militants today.

Spanish media reported those arrested were suspected of recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, though police would not confirm this.

''At this time, an ongoing operation against Islamic terrorism is in progress. It is thought they are Moroccans,'' a police spokesman said.

Police arrested 12 including one minor in Barcelona and nearby towns, while another two were detained in Aranjuez, 50 km (30 miles) south of Madrid, and one in the resort city of Malaga.

No weapons or explosives were found, press reported.

Bruno Cardenosa, a Spanish journalist who writes about international terrorism, said the arrests did not indicate a major threat to Spain from Muslim militants.

Spanish police have arrested over 100 Islamist suspects since deadly train bombings in Madrid in 2004, detaining some over an alleged plot to blow up Madrid's High Court, and have accused others of recruiting fighters for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Police have also stepped up security in Spain's north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which have a sizeable Muslim population.

''We have seen several operations against Islamic terrorism in Spain in recent years, in which the charges have not been that serious. Very probably, most of these suspects will be out in the coming hours or days,'' said Cardenosa.

He added that levels of Islamist recruitment for foreign wars was much higher in the 1980s and 1990s, for Afghanistan and Bosnia, and the overall threat to Spain remained ''very low''.

Spain is officially home to around 570,000 Moroccans - the biggest immigrant group in the country, a large proportion of whom live in Catalonia.

The arrests came as the Madrid trial of 29, mainly Moroccan, suspects, accused of killing 191 people in the train bombings comes to a close. The attack has been linked to al Qaeda.

REUTERS GL VV1807