Moscow, June 10: In a joint anti-terror operation Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and police have nabbed 120 alleged Islamic radicals in Moscow, including 55 'active' members of the militant organization Hizb ul-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party). The Islamic radicals, including ethnic Slavs, were living illegally in the rented premises of a defunct factory in an industrial area in eastern Moscow.
Some of the arrested extremists are believed to be Arabs trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, Itar-Tass said yesterday quoting FSB sources.
Arms, dynamite, plastic explosives and remote controlled detonators as well as extremist Islamic literature and leaflets were seized by the security services in the operation on Saturday within the framework of nationwide crackdown on Islamic extremists in the Russian regions.
The leader of the Moscow chapter of the Islamic extremist group, Alisher Musayev, a Kyrgyzstan national and Hizb ul-Tahrir functionary Akram Jalalov, a citizen of Tajikistan, were among those nabbed, Interfax adds. Moscow has beefed up security in the run up to 3-day holidays beginning on June 12 to mark National Day of Russia.

Bureau Report