Several of the 14 suspected terrorists, including two Indians, arrested in Spain were supporters of Lashkar-e-Toiba and the cell was planning to carry out suicide attacks in Barcelona on the orders of al Qaeda in Pakistan, a media report said.
The Spanish police on Monday sought more time from the National Court to question the suspects, that included 12 Pakistanis. The Spanish law allows detention without charge for a maximum of 72 hours for terrorist offences and the deadline will end on Tuesday.
Citing unidentified sources probing the case, the daily El Periodico de Catalunya said those arrested had received orders to commit a terror strike in Barcelona during a meeting with senior al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan's troubled Waziristan region.
"Several detainees were supporters of Lashkar-e-Toiba, a Pakistani group accused of carrying out bombings in India," the daily said, adding others were part of Takfir-ual-Hiyra, an extremist splinter group of Egypt's political movement Muslim Brotherhood.
The suspects were detained on Saturday in the northern port city's Raval neighbourhood, home to many Arabic-speaking and Muslim immigrants.
At least one of the suspects is involved in falsification of documents, according to the sources, who did not rule out "further arrests" in the case, which came on the eve of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's four-nation European tour.
Of the 14 detainees, 13 were residents of Barcelona, and several of them had travelled to Pakistan a few weeks ago.
The suspects had exploited those trips to receive training in terrorist camps in Waziristan, the report said, citing data from intelligence services.
"Those who gave the order are to be found in Pakistan. They were preparing suicide attacks. Those that came here were ready to commit suicide," the report quoted a source as saying.
Sources told the paper that the suspects were planning an attack like the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which killed 191 people, but this time with suicide bombers.
"We do not know where, but we suspect they were looking for somewhere busy, as the subway or train," a source said.
Other sources reveal that one of the targets was a mosque frequented by supporters of slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto.
The detainees were part of a terrorist sleeper cell which was activated from Pakistan with the arrival in Spain of one of their members, who acted as liaison with the leadership of al Qaida, the report said.
The arrival of the pointsman, who is among those arrested, was notified by the Pakistani secret services to their Spanish and French counterparts, it said.
Spain's Interior Minister has said after Saturday's arrests in Barcelona that an imminent attack by "highly organised radical Islamists" had been foiled.
They were transferred to Madrid for questioning at the National Court as investigators painstakingly sifted through evidence uncovered during the arrests.
The police had reportedly seized three large bags containing four timers and substances that could have been used to make bombs.
