Spain nails Algerian jihadist suspect

Spanish security forces arrested a 44-year-old Algerian jihadist suspect in the northern city of Bilbao on Tuesday.

The man was detained on charges of praising terrorist actions, indoctrination and spreading propaganda for the Islamic State (IS) through social network sites, the Spanish Interior Ministry said.

The suspect is also confirmed as having previously supported the organization Al-Qaeda, through the use of several online profiles.

His radicalization had increased in recent months, during which he hardly left his home, while his activities were developed under "careful security measures, especially his connections to the internet", according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.

The propaganda he distributed is reported to have had a special abundance of content praising martyrs and those which justified the deaths of non-believers, who he described as "dogs".

The Ministry added that among his contacts were people related to drug smuggling and others who are under investigation for terrorism in other countries in the European Union.

Spanish investigators are working to discover all of his contacts in order to open new lines of investigation, it said.

This is the ninth arrest of a suspected jihadist supporter to take place in Spain in 2017 and the 187th since Spain was placed on a level 4 anti-terrorist alert in June 2015. Endit