Spanish Prosecutor Says Eight Detainees Linked to Sept. 11 Attacks
By Ciaran Giles
Associated Press Writer
Nov 18, 2001
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Eight men detained by Spanish authorities were involved in preparations for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, a prosecutor alleged Sunday.
Cadena SER radio cited Prosecutor Pedro Rubira as saying that the eight belonged to a cell of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida organization that helped provide false identity documents and collect money through stolen credit cards and robberies. During a court hearing, he urged a judge to file charges and keep the suspects in jail, news reports said.
Bin Laden is the prime suspect in the attacks on New York and the Pentagon, which killed more than 4,300 people.
Investigative magistrate Baltasar Garzon questioned 11 detainees one by one for more than 12 hours Saturday and early Sunday. Rubira attended the sessions, and said eight should be charged and three set free.
The 11 detainees deny any connection to terrorist groups. Garzon was expected to decide whether to charge them later Sunday.
The men were arrested Tuesday by police, who said they belonged to an Islamic militant movement and recruited new members in Spain to be trained in camps abroad to carry out terrorist attacks.
Police said they had seized computer data, videos of Islamic guerrilla activities, hunting rifles, swords, false identity documents and a large amount of money during raids.
Most of the detained men have Spanish citizenship; all but one were originally from Muslim countries.
Authorities said the group had connections to several suspected bin Laden allies abroad, as well as with six Algerians detained in Spain on charges of belonging to an Algerian organization allegedly financed by bin Laden.
AP-ES-11-18-01 0025EST
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