Brazil Detains Al Qaeda Suspect Who Ran Anti-American Web Site
Brazilian authorities detained an Arab who ran a Web site forum that could be linked to terrorists and included anti-American statements in Arabic, a prosecutor said Tuesday night.
The Arab resident of Brazil was not identified and a court ordered his release after police investigated, federal prosecutor Ana Leticia Absy said in a statement.
Absy said Brazil police were alerted to the presence of the closed Web site by the FBI, obtained judicial permission to investigate it and concluded it could be connected “to a terrorist group.”
But Absy stressed in a statement that no evidence has been uncovered suggesting the moderator was actually a member of a terrorist group.
The statement was issued after a columnist for the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reported Tuesday that the man was suspected of being a member of Al Qaeda. Prior to the statement’s release, a federal police spokeswoman confirmed for The Associated Press that the man was suspected of being a key player in Al Qaeda’s international communications. She spoke on condition of anonymity, in keeping with department policy.
