Madrid suspect extradition approved
 |  The Madrid massacre was the worst attack against a Western country since September 11 attacks in U.S. |
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 Video of the March 11 bombing of a Madrid commuter train. (Viewer discretion advised)
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(CNN) -- Italy's top appeals court Wednesday approved the extradition to Spain of one of the suspected planners of the Madrid train bombings, according to a Spanish court official and the suspect's lawyer.
The extradition order for Rabei Osman el Sayed Ahmed -- a 33-year-old known to investigators as "Mohamed the Egyptian" -- still must be signed by Italian Justice Minister Roberto Castelli, which he is expected to do in the next few days.
The suspect was arrested June 7 in Milan on charges of belonging to an international terrorism organization.
He is a "key figure in the preparation and organization of the Madrid attacks," which killed 190 people March 11, and also a man of "very high importance in al Qaeda in Spain and the European Union," Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said in June.
On Wednesday, Italy's top appeals court upheld a June 30 lower court decision to extradite the suspect to Spain.
The official announcement is expected Thursday, but Attilio D'Amico, el Sayed Ahmed's lawyer, confirmed the court's action to reporters outside the courthouse in Milan.
In Madrid, a Spanish court official said the Italian prosecutor's office informed the Spanish prosecutor's office of the decision outside of official channels.
According to leaked transcripts of wiretaps placed on the suspect's phone calls, el Sayed Ahmed has claimed some responsibility for the attacks. The transcripts were published in Spain and Italy.
"There's something that I cannot hide -- the Madrid attack was my project," el Sayed Ahmed is alleged to have told someone.
Before Wednesday's hearing in Italy, D'Amico told reporters his client's "fundamental rights were violated ... among them, not being allowed to confer with an attorney."
He also said that el Sayed Ahmed "maintains that during the telephone recordings you cannot recognize his voice, so he does not recognize the fundamental evidence on which his arrest was based. He says those recordings are not usable in this case."
El Sayed Ahmed is among at least 17 people in custody in connection with the Madrid train bombings. Some others have been charged in the terror probe but have been released from jail pending trials.
Seven other suspects died when they blew themselves up April 3 as police closed in on their apartment in a Madrid suburb.
In the leaked wiretap transcripts, el Sayed Ahmed allegedly said that those who died "as martyrs were my dearest friends."
Spain's interior ministry has said that investigators have linked el Sayed Ahmed to Sarhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, a Tunisian whom they say was also a leader in the attacks. Fakhet was among those who killed themselves in April.
Officials said el Sayed Ahmed is likely to be handed over to Spanish authorities even as the investigation continues into the charges he faces in Italy.
