A Spanish national of Moroccan descent was arrested this morning in Belgium, in Zaventem (center), by members of the Belgian security forces in an operation conducted by the Spanish Intelligence Bureau, according the Spanish news agency Servimedia. The information was confirmed by the Spanish Interior Minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido. Detenido en Bélgica un español de ascendencia marroquí de 26 años por liderar una célula de captación y adoctrinamiento para #Daesh. pic.twitter.com/btVP6xd5bZ — Juan Ignacio Zoido (@zoidoJI) 27 septembre 2017 The 26-year-old man is suspected of being linked to the terrorist organization «Islamic State», for which he is believed to have spotted potential recruits to indoctrinate them. The defendant was the subject of a European arrest warrant issued by a court judge of the Audiencia Nacional cooperating with the EU member states against terrorism, the Spanish Interior Ministry said. The man was the last member of a small group based in Belgium that had initiated in 2014 an important process of radicalization. The cell was composed of five other persons, three of whom were arrested by the Spanish authorities, two of them in Barcelona and Salou (province of Tarragona) on 8 May and another by the Moroccan authorities. Its members also included the detainee's younger brother, who was arrested in October 2015 for belonging to the terrorist organization. According to the investigators, the arrested man was the brain of this cell and organized indoctrination operations at his home or in cafes in Brussels. In addition to regularly sharing radical audiovisual content with other members, he also spread his ideology in various countries via social networks.
