MOSCOW, Dec 25: Russian authorities have arrested 12 suspected members of the banned Hizbi Tahrir radical Islamic group, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said On Saturday.

"Twelve active Hizbi Tahrir members who are wanted in several countries have been detained in the Russian Federation," he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

He said they had been detained in various locations, notably the mainly Muslim Russian republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, as well as the Moscow region.

The minister did not elaborate on the nationalities of the detainees or when the arrests had taken place, but he said joint operations against Hizbi Tahrir were continuing in the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The latest arrests bring to more than 30 the number of suspected Hizbi Tahrir militants who have been arrested by Russian authorities since June.

Hizbi Tahrir, or the Party of Islamic Liberation, is a Sunni movement founded in the Middle East in the 1950s.

It established itself in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia 10 years ago and reportedly wants to create an Islamic state in the region.

Russia's Supreme Court classified the group as a "terrorist" organization in February 2003.

"Uzbekistan has accused the group of trying to overthrow the regime. Rights groups say more than 4,000 Hizbi Tahrir members are in Uzbek prisons serving sentences of up to 20 years.-AFP