Azerbaijan arrests 11 alleged Islamic extremists

The men were detained by special forces Monday in a raid on a home in the village of Saray, 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the capital Baku, interior ministry spokesman Sadig Gozalov told AFP.

"The citizens are all known followers of Wahhabism and were already facing convictions," he said, using a term often used in the former Soviet Union as synonymous with Islamic extremism.

He said the men had trained with Chechen rebel warlord Ruslan Gelayev in 2000-2002 in the Pankisi Gorge on the border between Chechnya and Azerbaijan's neighbour Georgia.

Scores of people have been convicted in the mainly Muslim ex-Soviet republic of Azerbaijan in recent years for involvement in Chechnya's armed conflict. AFP

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