15 Arabs Arrested in Portugal
Portugal police arrest 15 at Euro 2004 city. (Hat tip: Gnida.)
LISBON - Portuguese police arrested 15 people of Arab origin on Friday in the city of Porto, site of the inaugural game of the Euro 2004 soccer championships, a police spokesman said.
The 15 were arrested in a joint operation by the Judiciary Police, an investigative body, and Portugal’s Security Intelligence Service (SIS), a police spokesman in Porto said.
The arrests “were related to something international, but I don’t know what,” he told Reuters.
Private TSF radio quoted police as “there are signs that five of (those arrested) have links to a terrorist cell”. Police and the SIS began planning the arrests this week after receiving an alert from European intelligence agencies, TSF said.
“Everything indicates that those arrested will be released because as of now there is no solid proof that the individuals were preparing any terrorist attack in Portugal,” TSF said.