SAQLAWIYAH PATROL — U.S. Marines patrol through a local village to search for hidden weapon caches during an operation in Saqlawiyah, Iraq, Dec. 5, 2005. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Mark E. Morrow)
Posted on 12/09/2005 4:00:43 PM PST by Gucho
Citizens Turn Over 'Butcher of Ramadi' to Iraqi, U.S. Troops
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2005 – The terrorist known as "the Butcher of Ramadi" was detained today, turned in by local citizens in the provincial capital of Iraq's Anbar province, U.S. military officials in Iraq reported.
Amir Khalaf Fanus -- listed third on a "high-value individuals" list of terrorists wanted by the 28th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team -- was wanted for criminal activities including murder and kidnapping. Ramadi citizens brought him to an Iraqi and U.S. forces military base in Ramadi, where he was taken into custody.
Fanus was well known for his crimes against the local populace. He is the highest-ranking al Qaeda in Iraq member to be turned in to Iraqi and U.S. officials by local citizens.
His capture is another indication that the local citizens tire of the terrorists' presence within their community, Multinational Force Iraq officials said, adding that Iraqi and U.S. forces have witnessed increasing signs of citizens fighting the terrorists in Ramadi as the Dec. 15 national elections draw near.
Officials said 1,200 more Iraqi soldiers recently have been posted in Ramadi. About 1,100 Iraqi special police commandos and a mechanized Iraqi army company completed their planned movement into the city. This plan has Iraqi security forces assuming more of the security responsibilities from the U.S. forces, officials said. As in other locations, as security improves, Iraqi police also will be introduced gradually.
(From a Multinational Force Iraq news release.)
Friday, December 9, 2005
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, speaks during a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, not in the photo, at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, Dec. 9, 2005. Norway plans to send more soldiers to the NATO-led force, which now has more than 9,000 troops _ including some 330 Norwegians _ and is expected to be increased by up to 6,000 as it expands operations into volatile southern Afghanistan next year, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Friday. (AP Photo/Amir Shah)
Looking forward to the elections BUMP.
By Donna Miles - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2005 – Enemies of a free Iraq recognize they can't win against the United States and the coalition on the battlefield, and the only way they can hope to win is in Washington, D.C., and through American public opinion, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Dec. 8.
"They can't win over there," Rumsfeld said on PBS' "News Hour With Jim Lehrer." "The only place they can win it is in Washington, D.C., and they know that. They are working on it, and they are working it skillfully."
In addition, the secretary said, "they lie" and use the media to circulate their misinformation. He cited false stories circulated by terrorists, including one about a Koran being flushed down a toilet at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Several people died in riots that followed in Afghanistan, reportedly killing 16 and injuring more than 100 people.
Rumsfeld reiterated a point he made earlier this week: that journalists need to be more even-handed in their reporting and ensure they tell the whole story of what's happening in Iraq.
In the rush to get news out quickly, some reporters cut their fact-checking time short, he said. "To find the truth out takes weeks," he said. "To spread something that's not true takes five minutes. And it's all over the globe."
Rumsfeld urged reporters to tell the complete story about Iraq - the progress as well as the violence that tends to dominate the headlines.
He questioned why people "see hundreds of stories on the negative side and handfuls of stories on the positive side about what is going on."
Troops on the ground know the real story, and share it with their friends and loved ones through e-mails and phone calls, the secretary said. But they continue to wonder why this story isn't finding its way into the media, he said.
"All I know is that there are 150,000 troops over there who keep asking me, what in the world is going on?" Rumsfeld said. "Why is the impression in the United States so notably different than the facts on the ground that they see every day?"
Operations Net Suspects and Terror Tools in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2005 – Iraqi and U.S. forces continued to make progress in the fight against terrorism in the north-central region of Iraq, detaining suspects and netting weapons and ammunition, officials in Iraq reported today.
Raids and patrols throughout the area Dec. 8 resulted in the detention of 22 suspected terrorists and the discovery of four weapons caches, officials said.
In an early morning raid near Duluiyah, soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, captured seven suspected terrorists. The men were wanted for staging roadside bomb and mortar attacks against coalition forces in the area.
Iraqi troops from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Division, working with U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, detained five suspects in Mansuriyah al Jabal, a village near the city of Muqdadiyah.
In addition, Iraqi Ministry of the Interior troops and U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st BCT detained five other suspects following a combined raid near Samarra, officials reported.
A 1st BCT patrol discovered the biggest cache of the day, west of Balad. An explosives ordnance disposal team destroyed more than 100 hand grenades, 45 pounds of gunpowder, 2 pounds of plastic explosives, a preassembled roadside bomb and various other items, officials said. Three suspected terrorists were detained at the site.
Two other caches found in the same area yielded 23 mortar rounds, 300 artillery fuses, four blocks of plastic explosives, a mortar tube and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Explosive ordnance disposal teams destroyed both caches.
Iraqi soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, discovered another cache in the village of Haroniyah near Muqdadiyah. The cache contained nine mortar rounds that had been converted into improvised explosive devices and four RPG launchers. Two men were detained in connection with the weapons, officials said.
In other developments, officials announced Dec. 8 that a Marine assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), was killed in action Dec. 7. The Marine's vehicle was attacked with an IED during combat operations against the enemy in Ramadi. Officials are withholding the Marine's name until the family is notified.
Also on Dec. 8, Iraqi soldiers and police, along with U.S. troops, successfully conducted two separate operations near Baqubah that resulted in the capture of 14 suspected terrorists, officials said.
Operation Bulldawg Chariot, a joint mission with soldiers from Iraq's 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Army Division, and U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd BCT netted four suspected terrorists.
A tip from an Iraqi civilian led to the operation to nab suspected terrorists who were harassing, threatening and intimidating local Iraqi civilian construction workers who are building a new prison facility, officials said.
In Khadasia, northwest of Tikrit, Operation Able Rising Force unfolded with 10 suspected terrorists captured, including three who are wanted for IED attacks against local civilians and military. Iraqi soldiers from 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, Iraqi police from the area and soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st BCT, participated.
Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, detained two men after discovering a large cache of weapons and munitions Dec. 8 in the village of Haroniyah, northeast of Muqdadiyah.
The cache consisted of nine 60 mm mortars configured to be used as roadside bombs, four rocket-propelled grenade launchers, an antitank weapon known as a SPG-9 with one round and a television remote control. The suspects were held for further investigation.
Elsewhere the same day, soldiers with the 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, unearthed two caches buried near Balad in Salah Ad Din province. The find included 16 60 mm rounds, 16 artillery fuses and a technical manual for computers. Explosive ordnance disposal experts handled the scene.
And a car bomb exploded in Tikrit shortly after Iraqi police discovered it Dec. 8. Coalition forces, ambulances and fire trucks were called in to assist the police in establishing an initial cordon when the bomb, contained in a green minivan, exploded. No injuries or damages were reported.
Earlier this week, two insurgents attacked a patrol from the 10th Mountain Division's 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team.
The terrorists engaged the U.S. patrol with small-arms fire in the Dec. 6 incident before driving away in their white sedan, officials said.
The patrol pursued the vehicle and detained both suspects, officials said. While searching the vehicle, the soldiers found $5,000 in U.S. cash, two pistols, cell phones and ammunition.
Coalition aircraft flew 34 close-air-support missions Dec. 8 for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and a U.S. Air Force Predator struck an enemy improvised explosive device location near Rawah.
Ten U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. Royal Air Force fighter aircraft performed in a nontraditional ISR role with their electro-optical and infrared sensors.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq , Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, Task Force Baghdad and U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news releases.)
http://www.dod.mil/news/Dec2005/20051209_3591.html
By Spc. George Welcome
Pfc. Steven Green, B Co. 1-502 prepares to blast a lock off the gate of an abandoned home during a search of homes in Mullah Fayed on Dec. 2. (Spc. George Welcome)
YUSUFIYAH, Iraq (Army News Service, Dec. 9, 2005) – Soldiers from Task Force Baghdad, alongside Iraqi forces, constantly search the streets and alleyways of Baghdad and surrounding communities for weapons, insurgents and anti-coalition propaganda. The searches are thorough, yet the Soldiers still respect people's rights and property.
“I feel that our patrols make a difference,” said Sgt. Kenneth Casica. “I guess the patrols make the insurgents nervous because they know…we'll push them out of this area to make the people feel safe.”
When Task Force Baghdad Soldiers get ready for a mission, a lot of things take place before the sun comes up. Soldiers are mobilized, ammunition is loaded, vehicles are prepped, briefings are conducted, maps are studied, and energy drinks are consumed.
Taking streets back
These are a few of the many things the Soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division did to get ready for their patrol of the Mulla Fayyad area of Yusufiyah Dec. 2. This was a critical patrol for the Soldiers, as it would allow them to continue to establish their presence in the area that was rarely patrolled prior to their arrival.
Dogs barked incessantly as Soldiers from B Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment and elements of 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division began their patrol of their sector of Mulla Fayyad. This early in the morning, the Soldiers and the dogs were the only ones awake.
Humvees tactically dispersed and cordoned off the area to provide the Soldiers with security from anyone who might be trying to access the sector during the cordon-and-knock mission.
“Today’s mission was to see if we could apprehend insurgents who may have been in the area,” said Sgt. Kenneth Casica, a team leader in 1st Platoon. “We want [the citizens] to realize that we are here to help them.”
Iraqi citizens, Soldiers work together
In order to stabilize the area, the Soldiers and the citizens have established a basic trust, which is why during patrols U.S. troops take care in searching people’s homes.
“This was nothing like a big raid,” Casica said. “We just asked people to open cabinets and looked around in their things.”
Even though Soldiers of B Co. did not find any weapons or terrorists, they know their presence helps reduce the chance of the insurgency gaining a stronghold in the city.
“I feel that our patrols make a difference,” Casica said. “I guess the patrols make insurgents nervous because they know…we’ll push them out of this area to make the people safe.”
After nearly 13 hours on the streets of Mulla Fayyad, B Co. Soldiers cleared the last house in their sector. Although they considered this just a “routine operation,” their effort was far from typical. It was a long successful day for the Soldiers but they knew more patrols awaited them the next day.
When responsible for maintaining the peace of a city and reducing the effectiveness of the insurgency, there is no such thing as a day off.
(Editor’s note: Spc. George Welcome serves with the 2/101st Airborne Division PAO.)
By Elaine Eliah - Special to American Forces Press Service
A TOWN IN ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq, Dec. 9, 2005 – Reconstruction is now evident here, due to the improved security environment that followed the November 2004 battle for Fallujah.
Though homes are humble, many of them have bricks stacked or heaped alongside, their second stories inching upward. Roads are pitted and pockmarked, but there's little trash blowing along them.
Too many children wander streets instead of attending school, yet they are markedly cleaner than those normally seen on Iraqi back roads, and almost all of them are wearing shoes.
Even as the U.S. military positioned for that inevitable showdown in Fallujah, government agencies were already masterminding reconstruction of not only Fallujah, but for all of Anbar province Iraq's most problematic region.
The Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence contracted with ECC International to build an Iraqi army base in one of these "nonpermissive areas," where attacks were not only likely, but also expected to be frequent.
Even today, this town's name is undisclosed because of residents' security concerns.
U.S. and Iraqi troops hadn't yet secured Fallujah when ECCI security managers John Boyce and Al Habelman, both retired Special Forces soldiers, took up position at a small base formerly used by Saddam Hussein's army.
At that point, getting money flowing into Anbar province was just as important as renovating a military facility. With Fallujah's scattered militants regrouping in the province's other towns and local residents struggling to provide for their families, a window of opportunity opened.
"The town was empty, hunkered down," Boyce said. "Nobody knew if we could get anyone at all to come here to work." Ten of the town's Iraqi National Guardsmen reported for duty; the second day it was 12; by the 5th day 72 workers came, and the numbers kept climbing.
At least a foot of filth covered the floors and rubble up to several feet deep surrounded abandoned buildings. Brush fed a continuous bonfire, especially at night when the guards had no other way to keep warm. Forgoing dump trucks and front loaders, dozens of hands began cleaning up and began earning a living.
"After ECCI came to this place, things started to change," said Sheik Abu Ali, who preferred not to use his real name for security reasons and is one of the area's 50 tribal leaders. "Rick Ebel (ECCI director of Iraq operations) and Jim Holman (project manager) came to our council. We promised to help secure the area in exchange for jobs for the people. Every day new people are coming to work, buying things that they couldn't afford before."
Under Saddam, sheiks could not form local councils. They were paid to appease their tribes and make life easier for local police and Baath Party officials. Any sheik who didn't accept the gift was physically convinced of the importance of following commands. Saddam's ousting, followed by the army and police deserting the area, opened another window of opportunity.
When looters targeted some government property near the town, Abu Ali hosted the other sheiks for lunch. His suggestion that unity could protect them from these outsiders was not only accepted wholeheartedly, he was named head of the town's council of sheiks.
"Rick and Jim pushed the subcontractors to hire local workers rather than bringing in workers from outside," said Abu Ali.
This was certainly a challenge, as in this isolated area, outside the mainstream, the town had never witnessed modern construction work and teens who have completed middle school are indeed rare.
"We took 10 at a time from each of our three subcontractors on site," said Jim. After two weeks of training, we would turn a couple of them loose with a professional tradesman from Baghdad."
"Some have learned welding, learned how to hang ceilings, fix power cables and water pipes," said Abu Ali. "Some who had never seen a piece of wood before have become carpenters."
"We started with bare hands that knew so little and produced so much," Jim added. "It's turning out to be a beautiful set of buildings."
But amid this reconstruction progress, violence from anti-Iraqi forces continues. "The mortars," said Boyce, pointing to the northwest, "come from here." Rotating 180 degrees, he added, "The rockets (come) from there."
Twelve base buildings that had already been renovated required significant rework after attacks. Workers have been seriously injured.
"People quit because they are afraid and then they don't make any money," said Abu Ali. "It is safer to work for ECCI than to work for the Iraqi army or the police."
"In the beginning, there would be people across the street threatening to kill them, passing out handbills," Boyce said. "We would walk them into town with our AKs (assault rifles). But the workers kept coming."
"When Rick and Jim asked how we could improve the security of the area," he continued, "I suggested they expand their hiring to include people from other nearby villages." Anyone hired onto the project is first reviewed by the local council, which posts three of its sheiks at the gate to facilitate entry screening.
"If I am asked to find 10 workers," Abu Ali finesses diplomatically, "I bring five workers from the other villages and five from our town."
The project is nearing completion and one building at a time, the facilities are being handed over to the Iraqi military. "We were here to create a workforce," Boyce noted. "When you paid them, you could see it in their faces. The payoff for us was to see these people coming alive."
"We had a council meeting recently," Sheik Abu Ali said, "and when the project is finished, the workers want to move where ECCI moves."
Coalition and Iraqi forces continue missions to provide improved security to encourage more voters to take part in Iraq's Dec. 15 general election. Officials hope the results will spur more cooperation in reconstruction programs.
(Elaine Eliah is a communications specialist with ECC International Baghdad, contractor for the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence.)
By Elaine Eliah - American Forces Press Service
KUT, Iraq, Dec. 9, 2005 – With its 9,800-foot runway, one of Saddam Hussein's premier air bases was in Kut, Iraq, near the Tigris River midway between Baghdad and Kuwait. Today, the coalition defense team has commandeered the base's strategic position.
The U.S. Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence contracted with ECC International a year ago to build an Iraqi police cadet academy at Kut. With Iraq's training needs critical to the U.S. mission's eventual completion, the site has morphed into a triple training facility. Recruits for the Department of Border Enforcement have now begun training at Kut, as have officers and noncommissioned officers with the Iraqi army.
It has been a year of international teamwork for U.S. and Ukraine coalition troops, as well as for the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team, known as CMATT, and its paramilitary counterpart for police training, CPATT.
Even before the academies began training activities, the Ukrainian military, responsible for the Kut base and the entire Wassit province since August 2003, had its own program in which 1,500 Iraqi border enforcement troops and 2,355 soldiers from three infantry battalions received training. These Iraqi troops will assume responsibility for the Ukrainian area of operation, which includes 22 forts along 142 kilometers of the Iran/Iraq border, 60 kilometers to the east.
Since the police academy opened -- it's the first completed section of the Kut regional safety facilities -- CPATT has helped prepare the more than 1,200 cadets who are assuming responsibility for safety in Iraq's cities and towns. U.S. police officers rarely see combat situations that their Iraqi colleagues face daily on the job, and instruction has included military-style training.
Meanwhile, CMATT is training Iraqi army NCOs. U.S. Army National Guardsman Lt. Col. Alfred Abbondanza and his staff of drill sergeants have reached beyond combat and leadership basics to instill the NCO creed of ethical service and responsibility.
The fast-paced training year called for comparable fast-track construction. Housing and classroom demands more than doubled from the original contract planning for 765 police cadets and 50 instructors. Buildings were occasionally handed over the day before classes started.
When one tight deadline culminated in a ribbon-cutting dedication, "I was totally surprised," admitted stakeholder Abbondanza. "I'm not used to it. When they turned on the electricity to the rooms, everything worked, fans turned, lights came on."
At least momentarily, one man was able to relax. ECCI project manager Victor Johnson had rushed to plaster and paint the first floor of one building in time for a new class, only to have a second-floor work crew punch holes through the walls. That, he learned, is the customary Iraqi building technique to anchor their not-quite-freestanding scaffolding.
Trying on the patience, to be sure, but it allowed Johnson to take part in his own base training program. "One thing I like about the job is that I become a teacher -- roll up your sleeves and show them," he said. When he noticed door painters making a mess of adjacent, freshly painted walls, he found an old license plate and taught them how its edge could help paint straight lines.
"The hardest thing was to become an ambassador to each of these subcontractors and all their laborers," Johnson said. "A work force of 600 can drop down to 200 in a single day because of threats (against them)."
"You need to put your heads together and find a way to get it done," superintendent Pete Stocker reminded ECCI's Iraqi engineers. "I've got stakeholders who want to take possession of this building."
Abbondanza not only took possession, but also charged right into his next battle: his new group of NCO cadets. Learning to take a house or clear a street will prepare the future Iraqi squad leaders to lead soldiers through urban terrain fighting missions. They will also spend eight days at the firing range and four days in first-aid training.
"Saddam Hussein's officers would never give any authority," explained Abbondanza. "Those who were too incompetent got shot; those who were too good became a threat and ended up in jail. We want the NCOs to be able to make the decisions." Though he admits that many Iraqi NCOs have difficulty adjusting to the rigors of discipline and physical fitness training, some already are qualified members of the training team that will take over after coalition forces leave.
The CMATT team offers two training programs for medics: a five-week medical course that teaches advanced lifesaving techniques, and a four-day combat lifesaving course. "If we can apply a tourniquet and start an IV," said Abbondanza, "we can keep him alive."
The Ukrainians, meanwhile, have completed basic training and have moved on to training Iraqi officers who will serve as headquarters staff.
"They're learning how to plan better and to conduct operations independently," explained Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Sergei Goroshnikov, commander of the 81st Tactical Group. "We plan to certify the headquarters staff to assume responsibility for Wassit province by the end of 2005." With the border fort responsibilities already handed over to the Iraqi border team, he said, "it looks like we'll be home for Christmas."
The AFCEE building project is getting its finishing touches, and ECCI will hand over all facilities and leave Kut by the holidays. They will leave behind training triplets that have already graduated nearly 4,000 Iraqi police, border patrol and army cadets.
(Elaine Eliah is a communications specialist with ECC International Baghdad.)
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December 09, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi security forces and Task Force Baghdad Soldiers continued to scour the streets of Baghdad during operations Dec. 3-7, hunting down terrorists, disabling roadside bombs and seizing stockpiles of weapons.
Some of the success of these operations can be attributed to tips received from concerned citizens who approached Iraqi and U.S. forces with information about the whereabouts of terrorists and weapons caches.
While Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment were on patrol in south Baghdad Dec. 3, they were approached by two Iraqi citizens who said they knew where suspected terrorists were located. When the U.S. Soldiers went to the residence in question, they found six individuals — two of whom were known for terrorist activity. All six suspects were detained for further questioning.
Another patrol operating in west Baghdad Dec. 3 was stopped by an Iraqi woman who told the Soldiers about an improvised explosive device which had been planted in the area.
The woman pinpointed the location of the IED on a map for the Soldiers from 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment. When the patrol went to the location, the Soldiers found a 155-millimeter round with a radio device attached to it. An explosive ordnance disposal team was summoned to the site and the IED was rendered safe.
Soldiers from 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment observed an individual emplacing an IED in the Abu Ghraib district Dec. 6. Task Force Baghdad ground and air assets eventually cornered the individual, along with an accomplice, and detained the pair. Those suspects then positively identified another terrorist known for emplacing IEDs. All three suspects were detained for further questioning.
On Dec. 4, Soldiers from 1st Bn., 184th Inf. Reg. detained two suspects in the vicinity of a meat packing plant in southeast Baghdad after they were found with 20 bags of aluminum sulfate and weapons, including five AK-47 assault rifles, six SKS machine guns and an RPK rifle.
Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment on patrol in an area southwest of Baghdad reported taking small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire Dec. 3. A patrol from the Iraqi Army swept through the vicinity and detained three individuals suspected of firing on the American Soldiers. There were no U.S. casualties or damage to equipment in the incident.
Task Force Baghdad Soldiers in west Baghdad reported receiving indirect fire Dec. 6. There were no casualties or damage as a result of the attack. Aviation assets quickly pinpointed the origin of the fire and found three mortar tubes which were then destroyed.
Meanwhile, other Task Force Baghdad aviation assets in the area spotted a suspicious vehicle and individuals unloading items and taking them into a nearby house. A ground forces unit later went to the house and detained three terrorists suspected of firing the mortars. The U.S. Soldiers also seized a small cache of a 60-millimeter round, a 130-millimeter round, a 120-millimeter round, a 60-millimeter mortar system and 10 projectiles.
Source : MASTER SGT DAVID ABRAMS - TASK FORCE BAGHDAD PUBLIC AFFAIRS PLANS AND OPERATIONS NCO
GENEVA, Dec 9 (KUNA) -- The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (SFDFA) firmly condemned Friday the remarks of the Iranian President Ahmedinejad with regard to Israel.
The SFDFA added that the terms used by the Iranian President are unacceptable. "None of the Member States of the United Nations is entitled to express positions aiming at denying the existence of another Member State of the United Nations," stressed the SFDFA statement.
The Iranian President has suggested that Germany and Austria find room to move Israel to some areas of the two countries, since Israel was created as a result of a European problem.
Friday, 9 December 2005 - 13:36 GMT
At least seven people have been arrested in Spain on suspicion of helping to fund an Islamist terror group said to have links with al-Qaeda.
None of the suspects - who include six men and a women - is Spanish. Their nationalities have not been revealed.
Police made the arrest during raids in Malaga, Torremolinos and Marbella in the Costa del Sol.
Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso there was no reason to believe they had plans for an imminent attack in Spain.
He said the detainees were suspected of raising money and providing logistical support for the Salafist Group for Call and Combat - an Algerian-based extremist group.
He said the group was "perfectly structured", had a hierarchy and was dedicated to committing petty crime and forging documents and credit cards.
Mr Alonso added that money was sent to Algeria either in person or through a complex system of bank transfers that made it difficult to trace.
Police say the investigation continues open and they do not rule out further arrests.
In November, 10 people were arrested on suspicion of being a support cell for the Salafist Group.
Friday, 9 December 2005 - 11:48 GMT
Israel arrested 19 Palestinian militants in raids across the West Bank overnight, the army says. It comes as funerals are being held for two Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza on Thursday.
A funeral is also being held for an Israeli soldier who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian at a checkpoint between Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Israel has vowed to crackdown on militant groups after a suicide bombing in Netanya on Monday that killed five.
Ten of those arrested overnight were members of the Islamic Jihad movement, which carried out the attack, the army said.
They were rounded up in the northern Tulkarm region where the bomber hailed from.
Spiralling violence
Meanwhile, diplomats from the quartet of nations, responsible for drawing up the so-called Middle East roadmap, are meeting in Jerusalem.
They are discussing ways of implementing a deal, brokered by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to open up access routes between Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel halted talks on possible bus convoys between the two Palestinian areas on Thursday following Monday's attack.
Earlier this week, the Israeli army carried out air strikes on suspected militants in Gaza.
They reportedly killed Mahmoud Arkan, a member of the Popular Resistance Committees armed group, in a strike in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on Wednesday.
And they targeted members of the militant group al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in a strike on a house in northern Gaza on Thursday, Palestinian witnesses said.
Hospital officials named the two killed as Iyad Qaddas and Iyad Najar. A third al-Aqsa militant was among those injured, medics said, as well as a young girl.
Israeli sources said on Friday the Qalandiya checkpoint between Jerusalem and the West Bank was remaining closed "until a new order was issued".
It followed an attack on a 20-year-old soldier on Thursday. He was stabbed in the back of the head by a Palestinian man, dying instantly, the army said.
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