A Spanish judge today charged two Russian men suspected of plotting a terror attack in Spain or elsewhere in Europe with belonging to a terror organisation and of possession of explosives.
The National Court named the men as Eldar Magomedov and Mohamed Ankari Adamov and said in a statement there was evidence linking them with "belonging to or forming part of a terrorist organisation".
The two, who are both of Chechen origin, were driven to the court in dark cars early today, escorted by masked police officers.
Judge Pablo Ruz ordered both men to be remanded in custody until a date is decided for court proceedings, the court statement said.
Judge Ruz said his decision had been made after reviewing evidence provided by the US Justice Department, French judicial authorities and the police services of Gibraltar and the Russian Federation.
A Turkish national, named in the statement as Cengiz Yalcin, with whom they have been linked, was charged on Friday with the possession of explosives and a device likely to be used in a terror attack.
Yalcin had worked for years in the construction industry in Gibraltar and the explosive material was seized at his property in the south-western Spanish city of La Linea, just across the border from the British colony and naval base.
The statement said evidence provided by Russia linked Magomedov with international terrorist organisations and that he had been in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 2010.
Evidence provided by the US revealed that Magomedov may have acted under the pseudonym of Muslin Dost and been involved in terrorist activity in 2010 in Afghanistan and in Waziristan, a mountainous region in the north-west of Pakistan, Judge Ruz's statement said.
Both men had travelled to France before entering Spain in April or May this year, where they stayed at a property in the south-western city of La Linea. While there both men allegedly took lessons from Yalcin in paragliding.
Both men were allegedly heading back to France when they were arrested in the central city of Ciudad Real and police found neither was in possession of any kind of identification documents, the statement said.
The statement listed a number of aliases by which the two Russians are also or have been allegedly known.
While Judge Ruz's court document does not reveal the name of the terror organisation to which the Russians allegedly belong, it does say the men "partially acknowledged" their links to it.
Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz on Thursday described the Russians as suspected al-Qaida members and said the Turk is suspected of being a facilitator for the terror group.
Yalcin was arrested on Thursday in La Linea while the Russians were arrested on Wednesday as they allegedly travelled by bus toward the French border crossing at Irun.