Spain arrests man accused of working with Al Qaeda in Syria

Madrid, May 1 (IANS/EFE) Spain's Civil Guard, in cooperation with the French police, arrested in the southwestern province of Almeria a Franco-Algerian national suspected of working with Al Qaeda-linked groups in Syria.

Born in May 1989 in Vitry-Sur-Seine, France, Abdelmalek Tanem, recently returned from Syria, the Spanish interior ministry said Wednesday.

He is the second person to return from the Syrian conflict who has been arrested in Spain for his links with jihadi groups.

Tanem was a member of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from October 2013 to January 2014, according to the interior ministry.

During that period, authorities believe he served as a combatant and also as a "facilitator" on the Turkish-Syrian border to help other European citizens join the jihadi group.

--IANS/EFE

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