MADRID – The judge investigating the Madrid train bombings on Wednesday accused a new suspect of being a ringleader of the attacks.
Judge Juan del Olmo accused Moroccan Abdelilah Hriz, 29, of being a ‘material author’ of the bombings. Hriz, who is currently in prison in Morocco, was allegedly linked to the attacks by DNA found on a comb and blood-stained trousers found at the flat and a house where a number of the leading suspects were staying. Del Olmo went to Morocco to get a sample of DNA from Hriz last year.
He has now been charged in connection with causing the deaths of 191 people, the attempted murder of 1,811 people who were hurt in the bombings and helping to mount four terrorist attacks. Twenty-nine other people are on trial in Madrid in connection with causing Spain’s worst terrorist atrocity.
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=37061
The German interior ministry is appealing against a decision by the Berlin authorities to allow an Islamist to name his son Jihad, the Arabic word used for holy war. Reda Seyam fought for 18 months for permission to give his sixth child the name after the registry in the Berlin district of Charlottenburg initially rejected his application, saying the name was inappropriate because of its association with terrorism, and "may endanger the child".
This week a court overturned the ruling, on the grounds that Jihad was "a recognised male forename in the Arab world and loved by Muslims". Mr Seyam, 47, a self-declared Islamist, was shown on television this week presenting his son. Grinning into the camera, Jihad on his knee, he said: "You had barely come into the world and you were in court. Your fight has already begun."
In the same programme he defended the terror attacks on the United States on September 11 2001, and on Bali in 2002.
Germany has strict rules governing the naming of children. Parents have to choose from a list of court-approved names, to prevent a child from becoming a victim of ridicule or confusion. The names Hitler and Stalin are banned, and in 2002 a Turkish couple living in Germany were denied permission to name their child Osama bin Laden. Berlin's interior minister, Erhart Körting, said a court that allowed "a father who has welcomed al-Qaida attacks to name his child in this way has underestimated in an appallingly naive manner the meaning of this name".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2023689,00.html
Three Al Qaeda suspects given in judicial custody
KARACHI, Feb 28: Court of Judicial Magistrate East, Ganhwar Khan Gadehi, on Wednesday sent three Al Qaeda suspects to jail till March 2.
Mohammed Shahid alias Kashif, Mohammed Farhan alias Nasir and Ghani Subhan alias Rashid are charged with alleged planning to carry out suicide attack during the forthcoming Chehlum procession in the metropolis. CID police had arrested them from Gulistan-i-Jauhar after an encounter on February 16 and recovered a Kalashnikov, two TT pistols, three hand-grenades and a suicide bombing jacket from their possession. Police claimed they were members of Qari Zafar group, affiliated with Al Qaeda.
According to police, initial investigations revealed they were planning a suicide attack in Karachi on the day of Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA). Police said the group had also planned to carry out suicide attacks during IDEAS 2006 in November 2006 and Ashura procession but could not do so because of the tight security measures. The accused have also disclosed the names of their six accomplices Tariq, Faisal, Ijaz, Naveed, Umer and Javed, who are still at large. Police claimed that the group had planned to target the leaders of different religious parties. The court has fixed March 2 for the next hearing.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/01/local5.htm