Spain arrests two men suspected of helping al Qaeda

Spanish police arrested two Algerian men suspected of forging passports for members of Islamic militant group al Qaeda, police sources said yesterday.

High Court Judge Guillermo Ruiz Polanco ordered the arrests in the tourist resort of Torrevieja in Alicante province and in Murcia, both in southeastern Spain, the source said.

"Two people suspected of being linked to al Qaeda were arrested... (suspected of) making false passports for members of the organisation al Qaeda," the police source said.

France had already issued an arrest warrant for one of the men, the source said.

Last month a Spanish judge charged three men accused of helping to finance a synagogue bombing in Tunisia that was claimed by al Qaeda - the group also blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Dozens of men have been arrested in Spain on suspicion of having links to al Qaeda since those attacks, though many have been freed.