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Terror 'planner' condemns attack
16/02/2007 07:40 - (SA)
Madrid - An Egyptian accused of being one of the masterminds of the Madrid terror attacks told a court on Thursday he had no involvement in the bombings, despite intercepted conversations in which he allegedly bragged that he was the brains behind them.
"Your honour, I never had any relation to the events which occurred in Madrid," Rabei Osman said under questioning from his defence attorney on the first day of the trial.
He later condemned the attack, which killed 191 people and wounded more than 1 800 in March 2004. "Obviously I condemn these attacks unconditionally and completely. "This is a conviction I have very clearly and absolutely," Osman said. He spoke in Arabic and his words were translated into Spanish.
Osman was arrested in Milan, Italy, in June 2004 on a warrant from Spanish authorities. Of 29 people who went on trial here on Thursday, he is one of three accused of masterminding the attacks.
Italian prosecutors have said they tapped phone conservations in which Osman told an associate in Italy "I'm the thread to Madrid, it's my work."
- AP
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