Spain holds 18 bomb suspects
2004-03-26 14:33
Madrid - Spanish police may have captured at least three of a total of six to eight terrorists who staged the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, news reports said on Friday.
Eighteen suspects are in custody including five Moroccans who were arrested in Madrid and Ugena in nearby Toledo province on Wednesday and Thursday. Some reports claimed that one of the detainees was a Syrian.
At least one of the five is believed to have participated directly in Spain's deadliest terrorist attacks which left 190 people dead and more than 1 500 injured.
Police had previously detained Jamal Zoukam and Abderrahim Zbakh, who are also suspected of carrying out the attacks.
A total of 19 people have been arrested, but one Moroccan was released. The suspects in custody include Moroccans, two Indians and a Spaniard.
Police located the five recent detainees by comparing the address books of suspects already in custody.
The only woman among the suspects, Naima Oulad Akcha, also provided clues to the identities of the detainees, the daily El Mundo reported.
The two arrested in Ugena were construction workers who lived in Madrid.
Police believe the Madrid attacks are linked to suicide bombings which left 45 people dead in Casablanca last year.
Some of the Madrid suspects are believed to have been in contact with radical imam Temsamani Jad Hicham, who was later extradited to Morocco on charges of having participated in instigating the Casablanca attacks.
Eleven of the Madrid suspects have been imprisoned and nine are held incommunicado. Many of them are suspected of helping to prepare the train bombings.
The Indians are believed to have sold cellphones to the terrorists, while the Spaniard is thought to have provided them with stolen explosives. - dpa
- SAPA