Posted on 06/11/2004 2:27:32 PM PDT by knighthawk
Spain will seek the extradition from Italy of an Egyptian man suspected of planning the March 11 Madrid bomb attacks that killed 191 people, officials say.
Italian prosecutors welcomed the request but said the suspect might also stand trial in Italy.
Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, also known as "Mohamed the Egyptian", was arrested in Milan on Tuesday.
Spain called him "one of the masterminds" of the Madrid attacks carried out three days before a general election.
"The Cabinet has decided to request the extradition of Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, known as the Egyptian, to whom very important responsibility is assigned for his acts in the terrorist murders of March 11," Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told a news conference.
Authorities have said the bombings were the work of Islamic militants acting in the name of Al Qaeda, and a Spanish judge has accused 20 people in the case, 16 of them Moroccans.
Spanish police said they arrested two more Spanish suspects on Friday on suspicion of playing a role in stealing the dynamite used to make the bombs, which were packed in sports bags and left aboard the trains.
Friday's detention of two miners follow the arrest of six other Spaniards on Wednesday on suspicion of helping provide the explosives, which were taken from a mine in the northern region of Asturias.
Milan prosecutor Armando Spataro said the extradition request could arrive as soon as Monday and called it "comforting news".
The request was required because Italy has not implemented a European arrest warrant, which aims to speed the handover of suspects between EU states.
"(Ahmed) will of course remain under investigation in Italy too, so he will also have to be tried here," Mr Spataro said.
Spanish prosecutors are expected to seek accusations against Ahmed for at least 190 murders and 1,400 attempted murders.
Italian and Spanish authorities said they feared the suspect was preparing a new attack.
Spain's Interior Ministry called Ahmed a "a figure of extreme importance" in Al Qaeda's European network.
Judicial sources said he trained as an explosive expert in the Egyptian army and gave classes at Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan before the US invasion of 2001.
Before the bombings he was under investigation by a high court judge as part of a wider probe into Islamic radicals in Spain, but police lost track of him, judicial sources said.
Ahmed recruited followers at two Madrid mosques, where he met Serhane ben Abdelmajid Farkhet, also known as "The Tunisian", who a judge has identified as the jihadist ringleader of the Madrid bombing team.
Ping
Probably so Zapatero can throw him a big "Thank You" party...
he will never be convicted in spain - but then again, our jury in Idaho could do no better. terrorists cannot be affored access to western judicial systems.
You are right, even if that is highly non PC.
"The Tunisian"
These guys need to hire some better screen name writers.
They want to put him in "The Comfy Chair."
Lol!
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