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Madrid bomb suspects remain jailed

By CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman

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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A Spanish judge has charged five more suspects in the Madrid train bombings case and ordered them to remain in jail following their arrest last week, according to court documents seen by CNN.

The five train bombing suspects were among 16 suspected Islamic terrorists arrested last week across Spain.

The five were arraigned over the weekend, in separate closed-door hearings, before Judge Juan del Olmo, who is leading the investigation into the train bombings in March 2004 that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500.

In a 12-page ruling issued Monday, the judge charged one of the suspects with belonging to a terrorist organization and four with the lesser offense of collaborating with a terrorist organization.

In addition, two of the suspects were charged with incitement to terrorist suicide for allegedly recruiting Islamic militants to commit suicide attacks.

Some of the five allegedly helped a prime suspect in the Madrid train bombings to escape from Spain, although police say he may have committed a suicide attack in Iraq last month, authorities said.

Police last week said the prime suspect among the five was Mohamed Larbi Ben Sellam, 28, a Moroccan linked to two other prime suspects in the train bombings -- a Tunisian man who blew himself up as police closed in on his hideout, and an Egyptian man in Italian custody.

Among the five most recent suspects, Larbi Ben Sellam was the only one charged with belonging to a terrorist organization.

More than 100 suspects have been charged in the train bombing case, and about 25 of them remain in jail, while the rest remain charged but have been released. Indictments are expected this summer and a trial could begin by the end of the year.

The other 11 suspects arrested last week are linked to the terrorist network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Ansar Al Islam, the Interior Ministry said at the time of the arrests.

They are being arraigned separately and behind closed doors. A different judge was completing those arraignments, and no word was expected on their continued detention until later Monday.

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