MADRID, Jan 20: Six people of Pakistani origin were arrested on suspicion of “fraud” on Tuesday in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said.

Earlier in the day, a source close to the inquiry had said police detained 10 suspected Muslim extremists in raids in Barcelona, Madrid and the Canary Islands in an operation ordered by top anti-terrorist judge Baltazar Garzon.

Rubalcaba gave no further details as to possible charges, but a judicial source told AFP the six arrested in Barcelona are suspected of financing terrorist activities by carrying out thefts and sending money raised from criminal activities to Pakistan.

The six had travelled to Barcelona from different parts of Spain, the source added.—AFP