Spanish judge charges 35, including bin Laden, for September 11
In a 700-page indictment, Baltasar Garzon issued an
international arrest warrant for bin Laden and set a date of
September 24 for those already arrested in Spain to appear in
court.
Garzon further issued international arrest warrants for 13
people for their role in the attacks on New York and Washington.
The journalist charged was Tayssir Alluni, 56, a star reporter
best known for interviewing the mastermind behind the attacks in
Afghanistan (news
- web
sites) two years ago, who was arrested in southern Spain on
September 5.
The judge ruled last Thursday Alluni should answer allegations
of being a member of al-Qaeda.
Spanish police suspect Alluni of having links to members of al-Qaeda's
network including Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, alias Abou Dahdah,
who was arrested on suspicion of being the ringleader of an
Islamist fundamentalist cell which Spanish authorities dismantled
in November 2001.
Insisting that Alluni is innocent, Al-Jazeera on Friday accused
the United States and Israel of inciting Spain to incriminate him.
Of those charged 33 are accused of being al Qaeda members while
two are accused of collaborating with a terrorist organisation.
Bin Laden is believed to be alive and on the run since the
September 11 attacks that left 3,000 dead.
Included on Garzon's hit list are 18 Spanish-based suspected
radical Islamic militants, 12 of whom are currently already in
Spanish detention, who must now appear before Garzon next week.
The remainder are at liberty but on bail, and were summoned to
appear in court.
Of the 35 charged ten are charged specifically with direct
involvement in September 11, including, as well as bin Laden
himself, three men already in Spanish custody.
Alluni, of Syrian origin but holder of a Spanish passport, is
charged with "integration of the terrorist group al Qaeda,"
which he denies.
Garzon said Alluni "is charged on the basis of facts which
have nothing to do with his current occupation of
journalist."
Among the charges are that he used a trip to Kabul to forge
links with al Qaeda, funneling cash to an al Qaeda member and
another man who Garzon says "ran a terrorist training camp in
Afghanistan."
Garzon also asserts that Alluni had "links with Mamun
Darkazanli, bin Laden's financier in Europe" and with another
man who financed and sent militants to training camps.
The judge said he believed Alluni's contacts to al Qaeda went
back to at least the year 2000, when he worked as a translator for
the Spanish news agency EFE.
Garzon has also laid charges against Anwar Adnan Mohamed Saleh,
believed to have helped to set up an al Qaeda cell in Spain and
whose whereabouts are not currently known.
Garzon believes the cell was created in either 1994 or 1995
under Yarkas, involving militants dubbed "Soldiers of
Allah" and who were based on Madrid's Abu Baker mosque.
Spanish authorities dismantled the group in November 2001,
arresting around 40 people under the codename Operation Datil.
Garzon said he was issuing the indictment on the basis of
"international penal justice" given that at least one of
the more than 3,000 victims of the attacks had Spanish
nationality.
Garzon pointed to evidence that some of the preparations for
the attacks had come in Europe, including in Britain and Germany,
as well as Spain.
