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Accused mastermind of Madrid bombs denies involvement
2007-02-16
Youssef Belhadj, accused of masterminding the Madrid train bombings and suspected of claiming the attack in the name of al Qaeda, denied involvement on Friday and said he had no links to the militant group. Belhadj is one of four men prosecutors say plotted the March 11, 2004 attacks, when bombs packed into sports bags ripped apart four commuter trains killing 191 people. The Moroccan and fellow suspected ringleader Hassan el Haski denied the charges leveled against them, including terrorist murder, when they took the stand in one of Europe's biggest terrorism trials on Friday. Police believe Belhadj is the man on a video tape found two days after the bombings, saying the attack was revenge for Spain's support of the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. The next day, Spain voted out its conservative government, which was a strong U.S. ally, and the new Socialist leaders quickly pulled Spanish troops out of Iraq. Belhadj was asked by his defense lawyer whether he was a member of al Qaeda, whether he had ever spoken to, or received messages from Osama bin Laden, if he had sent people to training camps in Afghanistan and whether he was the man on the video. To each question, the 30-year-old replied: "No." According to the state prosecutor's report, Belhadj's nephew said his uncle was a member of al Qaeda and recruited Muslims to go to camps in Afghanistan to train for jihad, or holy war. Belhadj and el Haski are suspected of plotting the Madrid bombings with Egyptian Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, who testified in court on Thursday, and Serhane ben Abdelmajid Faked. Faked, known as "The Tunisian," was one of seven prime suspects who blew themselves up in an apartment block weeks after the train bombs. CONDEMNED CRIME Ahmed, Belhadj and El Haski all condemned the attack, which injured 2,000 people. "It was a crime. Who is going to condone an attack against innocent people and children? What Muslim would accept that?" said El Haski, also known as Abu Hamza. The state prosecutor says the masterminds plotted the attack after a 2003 call by bin Laden for attacks on U.S. allies. She has asked for each of them to be sentenced to more than 38,000 years in jail although the maximum anybody can serve in Spain is 40 years. Prosecutors say the main planners recruited disaffected, poor Muslims and common criminals to pull off the attack. The first of those, Jamal Zougam, took the stand before the weekend recess. Prosecutors say he was recognized by two people in two trains that were blown up during the morning rush hour and that mobile phones used to detonate the bombs used cards sold from his shop. Zougam said he was asleep when the bombs went off. The trial is due to last about five months, at which point the three-judge panel will retire to decide their verdicts -- expected in October at the earliest. Standing trial are 20 Arab men and nine Spaniards, facing charges including collaboration with a terrorist group and stealing dynamite from mines to sell to the bombers.
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