Spain indicts 8 on terror charges
By CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon has indicted eight more people on terrorism charges in connection with a group that had a suspected role in the September 11 attacks in the United States, a court official told CNN Monday.
The eight men allegedly provided logistical support for other suspects, including Ramzi Binalshibh, whom investigators say was a key al Qaeda operative involved in the 2001 attacks, the official said.
Binalshibh was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and is in U.S. custody.
Investigators believe he attend a pre-September 11 planning summit in eastern Spain in July 2001, along with one of the hijackers, Mohamed Atta, thought to have been at the controls of the first plane to strike the World Trade Center in New York.
The indictments were issued last Friday but made public only on Monday, the official said.
Six of the suspects were charged with belonging to a terrorist organization. They were identified as Reda Zerroug, Redouane Zenimi, Samir Mahdjoub, Khaled Madani, who are already in custody in Spain; Hedi Ben Youssef Boudhiba, who is in British custody; and Tahar Ezirouali, for whom the judge issued an international arrest warrant.
Two others were indicted on the lesser charge of collaborating with a terrorist group. They were identified as Mohamed Ayat, currently in Spanish custody; and the only Spaniard in the group, Francisco Garcia Gomez, whom the judge ordered set free on bail of $26,000.
Garzon in September 2003 indicted Osama bin Laden and 34 other al Qaeda suspects, some for alleged involvement in the September 11 attacks.
That indictment was later expanded to about 40 suspects in all and trials are due to begin for some of the suspects in the coming weeks in Spain.
