Spain Indicts 29, Sees No al-Qaida Connection
    By Daniel Wools
    The Chicago Sun Times

    Wednesday 12 April 2006

    Madrid, Spain - A Spanish judge issued the first indictments in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, charging 29 people Tuesday with murder, terrorism or other crimes after a probe that uncovered a hornet's nest of Islamic militancy but no apparent link to al-Qaida.

    In an indictment spanning 1,471 pages, Juan del Olmo, the investigative magistrate spearheading the probe, described the workings of a cell of longtime residents, most from Morocco and Syria.

    Inspired by extremist Islamic doctrine, they are said to have risen up against their adopted homeland to kill 191 people and wound more than 1,700.

    The first three include Jamal Zougam, a Moroccan merchant who allegedly supplied cell phones used as detonators in the 10 backpack bombs that ripped through four crowded commuter trains on the morning of March 11, 2004.

    The other two are Emilio Suarez Trashorras, a Spaniard accused of supplying the dynamite used in the attacks, and Abdelmajid Bouchar, a Moroccan.

    Survivor Suspects Others

    Angeles Dominguez, a survivor of the attacks who now leads a victims' association, said Del Olmo had concluded his inquiry hastily.

    "The massacre was huge. I think more time is needed for investigation," she said.

    Dominguez said she doubted the main suspects indicted were the ones really behind the attacks.

    "The project had to be the work of some other, highly qualified people," she said.

    Attacks Cost $120,000

    The indictment says the cell spent about $120,000 to stage the attacks - everything from buying explosives to renting safe-houses - and caused material damage and civil liability of more than $26 million.

    Shortly after the attacks, Islamic militants claimed responsibility on behalf of al-Qaida and said they acted to avenge the presence of Spanish troops dispatched to Iraq in 2003 by then prime minister Jose Maria Aznar.

    However, a Spanish intelligence official and a Western one said there was no evidence the cell had any contact with or received any logistical or financial help from Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.