Terror mastermind 'planned to kill Spanish judges'
The suspected leader of a Muslim cell that allegedly plotted to blow up Spain’s National Court in Madrid hoped to kill senior judges and destroy massive case files on Islamic terror probes, officials said today.
A police report quotes a protected witness who had been in contact with United Arab Emirates-born Mohamed Achraf, who Spain says was recently arrested in Switzerland.
Achraf is suspected of being the leader of a Muslim terrorist cell that planned to detonate an explosives-laden truck outside the court, located on a busy avenue in the centre of Madrid, according to the report.
“If Spain loses three or four of its most important judges, that is worse than losing its prime minister,” the witness, now in protective custody, told police.
“Furthermore, with this attack, many case files related to mujahedeen would be destroyed,” the witness added.
The National Court is a hub of Spain’s investigations into Islamic terrorism.
Eight suspects were arrested in Spain this week. Their alleged leader, Achraf, was arrested recently in Switzerland on a request from Spain.
The arrests were part of a probe by National Court Judge Baltasar Garzon, Spain’s leading anti-terrorism magistrate.
Since September 2003, Garzon has indicted 41 people on terrorism charges, including Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida suspects accused of staging the 9/11 11 attacks in the United States.
Another judge at the court, Juan del Olmo, is leading the probe into the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, which killed 191 people and have been blamed on Muslim militants linked to al-Qaida.
