29 Charged Over Madrid Bombings

A Spanish judge today charged 29 people over the 2004 Madrid train bombings following a two-year investigation.

The March 11 attacks, for which Islamist militants claimed responsibility, killed 191 people and injured more than 1,700. Six of the 29 men were charged with 191 counts of murder and 1,755 counts of attempted murder.

Juan del Olmo, the investigative judge, concluded that the bombings had been carried out by an independent local cell of Islamist militants inspired but not directed by al-Qaida.

"It took its inspiration from a website that called on local Islamists to stage attacks in Spain before the 2004 general elections to prompt withdrawal of troops from Iraq," a spokeswoman for the judge told Reuters.

The charges were contained in a 1,500-page indictment handed down from the national court, the hub of Spanish terrorism investigations.

The 29 charged include Jamal Zougam, a Moroccan who allegedly supplied cell phones used as detonators in the 10 backpack bombs that exploded on four crowded commuter trains.

Seven other suspects in the case - described as ringleaders who included the ideological mastermind of the attacks - blew themselves up in a suburban flat three weeks after the train blasts.

A policeman was also killed in the flat explosion, which happened when special forces who traced the men through cell phone traffic moved in to make arrests.

José Emilio Suarez Trashorras, a former miner who provided the bombers with plastic explosives, was charged with 192 counts of murder, including the death of the policeman.

The trial - which may not start until next year because of the complexity of the case - is expected to be one of Europe's biggest terrorism cases.

Twenty-four suspects - most of them Moroccan and Syrian immigrants - are in jail in Spain, another is on trial in Italy on separate terrorism-related charges, and more than 80 other people who were questioned and released are still considered suspects in Spain's worst terror attack.

Shortly after the attacks, Islamist militants claimed responsibility on behalf of al-Qaida, saying they had acted to avenge the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq.

José María Aznar, the prime minister at the time, attempted to blame the attack on the Basque separatist group Eta.

Socialists elected three days after the Madrid bombings quickly fulfilled an election campaign promise and brought the troops home.