Spain opens major trial of al-Qaida suspects

[lovuian]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7592085/

Spain opens major trial of al-Qaida suspects
3 are believed to have had roles in Sept. 11, 2001, attacks


The Associated Press
Updated: 4:28 p.m. ET April 22, 2005MADRID, Spain - Twenty-four suspected al-Qaida members went on trial Friday, including the group’s alleged ringleader in Spain and two associates accused of aiding one of the Sept. 11 suicide pilots who flew a jetliner into the World Trade Center.

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The proceedings were Europe’s biggest trial of alleged al-Qaida militants and made Spain only the second country after Germany to try suspects in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001. The only man charged in the United States, Zacarias Moussaoui, pleaded guilty Friday to helping al-Qaida carry out the attacks.

In a sometimes feisty appearance, the lone native-born Spaniard among the 24 Muslim defendants said he neither supported nor rejected al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden but insisted that he himself rejected all forms of terrorism.

Defendant: ‘Muslims are not terrorists’
“Muslims are not terrorists,” said Luis Jose Galan, 39. “All we want is to live in peace.”

The lead defendant is Syrian-born Imad Yarkas, a 42-year-old father of six who allegedly directed a terrorist cell that provided logistical cover for Sept. 11 plotters, including Mohamed Atta, who is believed to have piloted one of the two planes that destroyed the twin towers in New York. Yarkas is expected to testify next week.

Lawyers for at least one defendant say they might seek testimony from terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. The only person convicted of involvement in the Sept. 11 plot — Mounir el Motassadeq in Germany in 2003 — had the verdict overturned when an appeals court ruled his trial was unfair because the U.S. did not produce such testimony. He is being retried.

“It is very possible we will seek testimony from persons held in the United States,” said Manuel Tuero, lead attorney for the suspected financial brains behind the Madrid cell, Mohamed Ghaleb Kalaje Zouaydi. “We’ll have to see how the trial goes,” he said.

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“It is very possible we will seek testimony from persons held in the United States,” said Manuel Tuero

Now thats a very interesting possibility!!!