<p>Spanish police said Thursday they had dismantled a ring suspected of financing Al-Qaeda and arrested three men, including the top representative of Spain's Muslim community.</p>.<p>Those detained were suspected of having "exploited an NGO to finance the activities of terrorist fighters," a National Police statement said.</p>.<p>The organisation is believed to have collected donations for orphaned children in Syria, but "a part" of the funds went instead to areas of Syria "controlled by Al-Qaeda militias with the aim of supporting their fighters", it added.</p>.<p>"Another part of the proceeds was destined to defray the expenses of a school centre for orphaned children located in a conflict zone, whose activities were focused on the training of future mujahideen."</p>.<p>The head of the Islamic Commission of Spain (CIE), Mohammad Ayman Adlbi, was arrested Tuesday as part of the operation and later released without charge, police and government sources said.</p>.<p>"I must express our confidence in the judicial administration, regardless of the suspicions, which we consider unfounded," Ayman Adlbi said in a statement released late Wednesday by the CIE.</p>.<p>He also voiced his "great displeasure" at being arrested when he could have easily been invited for "an interview" at the police station.</p>.<p>Ayman Adlbi was appointed last year to head the CIE, which represents Muslims before Spanish state bodies and oversees religious services at the country's mosques as well as Muslim education.</p>.<p>One of the men arrested, a treasurer of a federation which is part of the CIE, the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain, was placed in preventative detention, a judicial source said.</p>.<p>Police said the arrests follow a two-year investigation.</p>.<p>Since 2015, Spain's alert level has been held at level four out of five, indicating a high risk of an attack.</p>
<p>Spanish police said Thursday they had dismantled a ring suspected of financing Al-Qaeda and arrested three men, including the top representative of Spain's Muslim community.</p>.<p>Those detained were suspected of having "exploited an NGO to finance the activities of terrorist fighters," a National Police statement said.</p>.<p>The organisation is believed to have collected donations for orphaned children in Syria, but "a part" of the funds went instead to areas of Syria "controlled by Al-Qaeda militias with the aim of supporting their fighters", it added.</p>.<p>"Another part of the proceeds was destined to defray the expenses of a school centre for orphaned children located in a conflict zone, whose activities were focused on the training of future mujahideen."</p>.<p>The head of the Islamic Commission of Spain (CIE), Mohammad Ayman Adlbi, was arrested Tuesday as part of the operation and later released without charge, police and government sources said.</p>.<p>"I must express our confidence in the judicial administration, regardless of the suspicions, which we consider unfounded," Ayman Adlbi said in a statement released late Wednesday by the CIE.</p>.<p>He also voiced his "great displeasure" at being arrested when he could have easily been invited for "an interview" at the police station.</p>.<p>Ayman Adlbi was appointed last year to head the CIE, which represents Muslims before Spanish state bodies and oversees religious services at the country's mosques as well as Muslim education.</p>.<p>One of the men arrested, a treasurer of a federation which is part of the CIE, the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain, was placed in preventative detention, a judicial source said.</p>.<p>Police said the arrests follow a two-year investigation.</p>.<p>Since 2015, Spain's alert level has been held at level four out of five, indicating a high risk of an attack.</p>