Spain indicts 29, sees no al-Qaida connection

[kpete]

Spain indicts 29, sees no al-Qaida connection

April 12, 2006

BY DANIEL WOOLLS

MADRID, Spain -- A Spanish judge issued the first indictments in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, charging 29 people Tuesday with murder, terrorism or other crimes after a probe that uncovered a hornet's nest of Islamic militancy but no apparent link to al-Qaida.

In an indictment spanning 1,471 pages, Juan del Olmo, the investigative magistrate spearheading the probe, described the workings of a cell of longtime residents, most from Morocco and Syria.

Inspired by extremist Islamic doctrine, they are said to have risen up against their adopted homeland to kill 191 people and wound more than 1,700.

The first three include Jamal Zougam, a Moroccan merchant who allegedly supplied cell phones used as detonators in the 10 backpack bombs that ripped through four crowded commuter trains on the morning of March 11, 2004.

The other two are Emilio Suarez Trashorras, a Spaniard accused of supplying the dynamite used in the attacks, and Abdelmajid Bouchar, a Moroccan.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/terror/cst-nws-spain12.html