Madrid bombing suspects charged
A Spanish judge has charged 29 people over the Madrid train bombings
of March 2004 which claimed 191 lives and left nearly 2,000 injured.
Most of those charged are Moroccan nationals, and the indictments run
to almost 1,500 pages.
The trial is expected to go ahead early next year and to last 12
months.
So far, more than 100 people have been arrested in the course of the
investigations into the attacks, which have been blamed on Islamic
radicals.
Rush hour
Judge Juan del Olmo has accused five Moroccan men - Jamal Zougam,
Abdelmajid Bouchar, Youssef Belhadj, Rabei Ousman Sayed Ahmed and
Hassan el Haski - of 191 murders and 1,755 attempted murders.
Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras, a Spaniard suspected of providing the
bombers with explosives, was charged with 192 murders - including the
death of a policeman killed during a raid on suspected bombers after
the attacks.
The others have been charged as accomplices over the 10 co-ordinated
explosions on four trains during the busy morning rush hour.
Although the attack was claimed by al-Qaeda, the investigation has
suggested the bombings were carried out by a local cell that was
inspired by it, rather than directly ordered by the group's senior
leadership.
Videotapes and internet postings by al-Qaeda leaders had urged Islamic
radicals to target Spain and other countries with troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
The attacks led to the fall of the then pro-US government in Spain,
which had initially blamed the bombings on the Basque separatist
group, Eta.
The complexity of the case and the large number of accused mean the
trial is unlikely to get under way before next year.
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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4899042.stm
Published: 2006/04/11 12:53:26 GMT
© BBC MMVI
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