Spanish judge charges 13 with al Qaida membership
A Spanish judge charged 13 suspected Islamic extremists today on charges of belonging to al Qaida.
The indictment said the suspects, most of whom were North African, had formed two terror cells in 2003 – one in Morocco and one in Madrid – and concluded that after Spain sent peacekeeping troops to Iraq that year, the country was “an enemy of Islam and therefore it was necessary to stage an attack” in Spain.
The 13 men were arrested in raids starting late last year after police claimed to have foiled a planned suicide truck bombing to blow up the National Court, the hub of Spain’s investigation of Muslim extremism, including last year’s train bombings in Madrid.
But the indictment issued by Judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska did not specifically accuse them of planning to destroy the court. It only charged them with belonging to a terrorist group, namely al Qaida.
Four of the 13 men charged are fugitives. Eight are in jail in Spain and one is prison in Morocco in connection with the Casablanca bombings of May 2003.
