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| Europe | |
| Four Algerians charged with financing terrorism | |
| 2005-11-29 | |
| MADRID — A Spanish judge has charged four Algerians with membership of a terrorist cell that financed and gave logistical support to an Islamic extremist group linked to al-Qaeda. Judge Fernando Andreu ordered Kaled Bakel, Said Bouchema, Salim Zerbuti and Lyief Sihamida to be detained on terrorism charges. He ordered the release of seven other Algerian detainees. Eleven men were detained last Wednesday in Alicante, Granada and Murcia, on suspicion of having ties to the Algeria-based Salafist Group for Call and Combat, which has declared allegiance to al-Qaeda. Andreu said the four had tried unsuccessfully in February and March to buy explosives in exchange for hashish in the city of Granada, a court official said. The four are also charged with forgery of official documents and credit cards. The seven released were ordered to hand over their passports and appear at the court weekly. Andreu ordered the arrests based on a 10-month police investigation. Police also presented the judge with taped conversations in which the suspects talked about how to obtain a substance called "red mercury," which has radioactive properties, to make bombs, the court official said.
Train bombings in Madrid last year killed 191 people and wounded some 1,500 in Spain's worst terrorist attack, which has been blamed on Islamic militants. | |
| Posted by:Steve |