The Netherlands hands extremist suspect to Spain

MADRID (Reuters) - The Netherlands extradited a Pakistani man to Spain on Thursday where he faces allegations of belonging to an extremist Islamist group, Spanish police said on Thursday.

Akeel Abassi, 26, fled Spain in January during the dismantling of a group of militants in Barcelona, a police statement said.

Dutch police arrested him in June after a Madrid court issued a warrant for his capture.

Spanish authorities have said Abassi traveled from Spain to Germany to carry out a suicide attack on an unidentified target but then left for the Netherlands without carrying out the bomb attack.

Abassi was one of 11 Islamists charged by Spain's High Court in June with offences relating to suicide bombings it said they had been planning in both Germany and Barcelona.

(Reporting by Sarah Morris; editing by Robert Hart)