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March 2, 2006
Spain: Islamist Train Bombing Suspects May Stay In Custody For Two More Years
On the morning of Thursday, 11 March, 2004, commuters were going about their business at Atocha Train Station, Madrid, when a series of ten bombs triggered by cell-phones in rucksacks ripped in quick succession through four trains. 191 people were killed, and 1,500 were injured. Three other bombs failed to go off, and were destroyed in controlled detonations by police officers.
A video in QuickTime and Windows Media Player format of the actual blasts, from CCTV cameras, can be found by clicking here, from Internetopina at Diggers Realm. Though bodies are shown on the platforms, the excesses of gore are not featured.
The rightwing government of Jose Maria Aznar rashly claimed in the immediate aftermath that the bombings were the work of ETA, the Basque separatist group, and as a result of this loss of credibility, they lost the election which was held shortly afterwards to the PSOE or Spanish Socialist Workers' Party led by Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
A series of arrests followed the March 11 bombings, which are described in a timeline from the BBC. Though many associates of the Islamist terror cell believed to have helped to coordinate the attacks were apprehended, the true ringleader escaped justice.
The announcement was made on 30 March that the perpetrators of the atrocity were from the Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain (GICM) or Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group. This group had been responsible for a series of blasts in Casablanca Morocco on 16 May, 2003, which killed at least 41 people.
On April 3, 2004, the suspected ringleader of the Madrid cell, a Tunisian named Sarhane ben Abdelmajid Fakhet (pictured, above right) was with six associates in an apartment in Leganes, a Madrid suburb, while police gathered outside, ready to raid the building. Rather than surrender, the Islamists detonated an explosive device (pictures left, below) killing themselves, one policeman, and at least 11 officers.
Today, Expatica relates that Olga Sanchez, the lead prosecutor acting for the National Court, has urged that five men who have been charged in connection with the Madrid train atrocity may be detained in custody for a further two years before their trial takes place.
The National Court is a special tribunal, which deals with high-profile terror and corruption cases. The investigating magistrate, Juan Del Olmo, summoned the five suspected terrorists to appear before him, to consider Ms Sanchez' recommendation. The prosecutor has argued that the men would almost certainly abscond if released on bail.
The first man to appear was Jamal Zougam, who denies the charges laid against him, even though he was recognised by several witnesses leaving a backpack filled with explosives on one of the train carriages which exploded. he had been arrested on 13 March, two days after the atrocity.
Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras appeared after Zougam. Trashorras, arrested on 18 March, was a Spanish miner, who is accused of supplying the explosives used in the attack. He was officially remanded in custody on 23 March.
Also summonsed with Trashorras was Moroccan Rafa Zouhier, who was arrested on March 19, and charged on March 24, 2004 of collaborating with a terrorist group. Zouhier is suspected as the "go-between" link between Islamist terror cells. Zouhier and Trashorras are said to be co-operating with the authorities' investigations.
With Trashorras and Zouhier was a Syrian, Basel Ghalyoun who was arrested on 24-5 March and charged on 30 March 2004 on counts of mass-murder and belonging to a terrorist organisation. Ghalyoun was recognised from a photo line-up by two witnesses as one of the bombers who placed an exploding rucksack on a train carriage.
Another individual whose case for extended custody is being reviewed is Hamid Ahmidam, a Moroccan who was charged on 30 March 2004 with belonging to a terrorist organisation.
Judge Del Olmo is expected to make a ruling on Olga Sanchez' request for two year's custody within a few days.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at March 2, 2006 8:43 PM
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