Posted on 09/22/2005 5:26:10 PM PDT by F14 Pilot
BELGRADE, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Serbia has signed the extradition papers of a key suspect in the Madrid train bombings and will be transferring him to Spain shortly, a government official said on Thursday.
Abdelmajid Bouchar, a 22-year-old Moroccan, was detained on June 23 on a train travelling to Belgrade and held for a breach of immigration law. Serbian officials confirmed his identity in mid-August after checks with Interpol and Spanish police.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the extradition date would not be made public for security reasons.
"A statement will not be issued before he arrives in Spain," the official said.
Bouchar had been wanted on an international arrest warrant for more than a year on suspicion of involvement in the March 11, 2004 Madrid attacks by Islamist militants that killed 191 people.
He escaped from a suburban Madrid apartment three weeks after the March 11 bombings as police closed in on a group of prime suspects, according to the Spanish judge leading the investigation.
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