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Al-Jazeera reporter 'in custody'
MADRID, Spain -- The Al-Jazeera correspondent arrested because of his alleged links to the al Qaeda terrorist group is in custody in Madrid while awaiting questioning by a judge next week, according to his wife. Authorities believe that Tayseer Allouni -- who interviewed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden nearly two years ago -- provided support for two suspected members of the group, a Spanish court official told CNN. Allouni was arrested on Friday at his home near Granada, in southern Spain, on orders from Judge Baltasar Garzon, who has been leading the investigation in Spain into alleged members of al Qaeda and other militant Islamic groups. Officials said he was due to appear in Madrid's National Court Monday. Fatima Hamed Layasi said her husband was taken to the capital on Friday night and given a routine medical examination. She said he had a heart attack in Baghdad this year and needs constant medical care. "The only thing I know is that my husband is in Madrid and that he's fine, but police didn't tell me his exact whereabouts," she told The Associated Press on Saturday by phone from her home in Alfacar, a village near Granada. The arrest warrant accuses Allouni of having links to "important members" of al Qaeda and using his status as a journalist to get an interview with its leader Osama bin Laden in October 2001, Hamed Layasi told CNN. Asked if the charges were true, Hamed Layasi said: "Surely it is not so." She said she would soon hire a lawyer to defend her husband. Authorities believe Allouni provided support for Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, alias Abu Dahdah, who was arrested on November 13, 2001, and is thought to have been an al Qaeda ringleader in Spain, the court official said. Allouni is also suspected of providing aid to Mohamed Bahiah, alias Abu Kalhed, a suspected al Qaeda fugitive thought to be in Afghanistan, the official said. Several dozen suspected Islamic terrorists have been detained in Spain since the September 11, 2001 attacks, and some have been linked to that attack. Others have been released on bail or for lack of evidence. No one has gone to trial. Since the September 11 attacks, Al-Jazeera has aired numerous video and audio recordings purported by have been made by bin Laden. -- CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman contributed to this report.
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