Reuters News Article Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 9:00 AM Subject: reuters.co.uk - Spain holds 13 over Madrid attack - Tue 23 March, 2004 04:02 AM
Spain holds 13 over Madrid attack Tue 23 March, 2004 04:02 AM By Daniel Trotta MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish judge has freed a Moroccan man arrested in connection with the Madrid train bombings, but has ordered four other men to remain in jail for their alleged role in the suspected al Qaeda-linked attack. Thirteen men, 10 of them Moroccans, are now being held over the bombings on four packed commuter trains that killed 202 poeple and wounded more than 1,800. No formal charges have been laid so far. Juan del Olmo, the judge in charge of the case that investigators suspect is linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda or Muslim militants backing his group, decided there was insufficient evidence against the Moroccan man he released. "He has been set free," a court official told reporters after a long session into the night in which del Olmo questioned five suspects one by one. Del Olmo ruled the other four suspects should remain in jail. Two of them, a Moroccan and a Spaniard, are accused of 190 murders and 1,430 attempted murders. Two other Moroccans are accused of belonging to or collaborating with a terrorist group. The Spaniard is also accused of helping the suspected attackers steal the dynamite used to make the bombs. SUSPECTS HELD INCOMMUNICADO Under Spanish anti-terrorist laws, the suspects are held incommunicado and without access to their defence lawyers. Four of the 13 suspects in custody have yet to face the judge. Investigators suspect the Madrid bombings were the first al Qaeda-linked attack in Europe. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are among those expected to attend a state memorial service in Madrid on Wednesday for the victims. Besides the service, the leaders will also face delicate talks on Iraq and U.S. President George W. Bush's war on terror. The Madrid attack sparked a voter backlash against the conservative government's support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and helped sweep the opposition Socialists to power in a general election upset. Incoming Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has vowed to bring home Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq unless the United Nations takes control from U.S.-led forces by June 30. Zapatero has been sharply critical of the war and has called the U.S.-led occupation a "fiasco", but Washington is expected in some quarters to seek a new U.N. resolution on Iraq to persuade Spain to keep its troops deployed. The El Pais newspaper reported on Tuesday that Zapatero might boost Spain's troop presence in Afghanistan if he pulls forces out of Iraq in order to demonstrate his support for fighting terrorism. The Madrid bombings have sparked a security shake-up across the European Union and put Western capitals on alert. Security officials from the EU's five biggest members -- Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- began a two-day meeting in Madrid on Monday to coordinate investigations over the attack and to try to counter any future threat. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
