Three Madrid suspects released

2004-05-05 16:12

Madrid - The Spanish judge investigating the Madrid terror bombings ordered three Moroccan suspects released, including the only woman charged in the case, court officials said on Wednesday.

National Court Judge Juan del Olmo ordered Naima Oulad Akcha, Faisal Allouch and Abdelouahid Berrak to report to the courthouse daily.

The three were charged with collaborating with a terrorist group because of their links to the prime suspects of the March 11 bombings that killed 191 people and wounded some 2 000.

Court officials said Del Olmo decided that the three would not hinder the investigation and were not directly implicated in the attacks.

Of the 18 people charged so far, six have been charged with mass murder and the rest charged with collaborating with or belonging to a terrorist organisation. Twelve remain in prison.

Among the prime suspects in the bombings was Jamal Ahmidan, who the government says died April 3 in an explosion at a suburban Madrid apartment that police were preparing to storm.

Also on Wednesday, El Pais reported that Spanish police had focused their investigation on Islamic extremists in the first hours after the attacks.

The report contradicted statements made by the outgoing government of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, which immediately blamed the Basque separatist group ETA following the blasts.

Aznar's party lost a general election three days after the bombings. Days later, it backed away from blaming the armed group and said police were investigating other culprits.

Many Spanish voters in the March 14 elections interpreted the bombings as a reprisal for Aznar's support of military action in Iraq.

Citing Del Olmo's investigation, El Pais reported that police initially searched for Arab citizens at two luxury Madrid hotels and checked passenger lists at Madrid's Barajas international airport.

At the Hotel Intercontinental in downtown Madrid, El Pais reported, police inspected the room where the sultan of Malaysia and his entourage had stayed.

As reports emerged indicating Islamic terrorists were likely responsible, the Spanish opposition accused the government of a cover-up by pointing its finger at ETA.

El Pais said that the sole reference to ETA came from an eyewitness report from one of the injured who told police that he had seen two suspects who might be Basques.

The Interior Ministry declined to comment on the report.

- AP