Terror suspect transferred from Belgium to Spain

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spanish police Friday transferred a suspected leader of an al Qaeda-linked group from Belgium to Madrid, where he was indicted last year for alleged Islamic terrorist activities, the Spanish Interior Ministry said.

The Algerian suspect, Khaled Abidi, was released by Belgian authorities to Spanish police. He is charged with being a member of an Islamic terrorist group.

Abidi was listed in a Spanish indictment last year as a leader in Spain of Ansar al-Islam, which is suspected of recruiting Moroccans and Algerians to fight for al Qaeda in Iraq, according to a copy of the indictment viewed by CNN.

A total of 32 suspects were named in the indictment last year, and Abidi was among six who were at large at the time. The court issued arrest warrants for them.

Before being taken into custody in Belgium, Abidi was arrested in 2004 and held for a time by Algerian authorities for allegedly belonging to a terrorist group.

The authorities also suspect him of serving as a link between terrorists in Spain and Syria, the ministry statement said.

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