Three al-Qa'ida suspects held in Spain as police foil attack

Police have arrested three suspected al-Qa'ida members who had amassed explosives and may have been plotting attacks in Spain or elsewhere in Europe, officials said yesterday. Two had practised flying light aircraft.

The three – a Russian, a Russian of Chechen descent and a Turk – were held on Wednesday. Enough explosive material to blow up a bus was found in the house where the Turk lived in the town of La Linea, which borders Gibraltar.

The material could be especially dangerous if combined with shrapnel, said the Interior Minister. Jorge Fernandez Diaz. "This is one of the most important operations carried out against al-Qa'ida."