Terror suspect arrested in Alicante

POLICE have arrested a suspected terrorist sympathiser on the Costa Blanca alleged to be helping jihadist fighters return to Spain from the Middle East.

The 46-year-old Egyptian national was also said to have spread Islamic State ‘hate’ propaganda, taking advantage of his ‘privileged position’ within the Islamic community in the province of Alicante.

Officers of the National Police detained the suspect and said he was facilitating the return of IS terrorists who wished to leave Syria and Iraq.

The police said his main task was to facilitate the return from the conflict in the Middle East; providing travel documents, money, and safe houses.

Spain’s Ministry of Interior has continually underlined the return of jihadist fighters to Europe is one of the main threats to national security.

Since June 2015 – when Spain’s security was raised to level four, the second highest level – security forces have arrested 159 IS suspects.