Two more suspects have been charged in connection with the deadly Madrid commuter railroad bombings, authorities said.
Judge Juan del Olmo jailed Rafa Zuher and Naima Oulad Akcha on charges of collaborating with a terrorist group after questioning them separately for more than six hours, court officials said on Wednesday.
The two suspects, both Moroccans, were arrested last weekend. They denied the charges and condemned the March 11 bombings, court officials said.
Spanish authorities have arrested a total of 15 suspects in connection with the bombings -- 11 Moroccans, two Indians, one Algerian and a Spaniard. One of the Moroccans and the Algerian were released. Thirteen remain in custody, of whom 11 now have been charged.
The attacks killed 190 people and injured at least 1,800 others.
Five suspects have been charged with mass murder and belonging to a terrorist group and six have been charged with collaboration.
All but the two Indian suspects are being held in solitary confinement without access to lawyers or family. With the exception of the Spaniard, all of the charged have denied any involvement in the attacks.
The charges stop short of a formal indictment but suggest that the court has strong evidence against them. They can be jailed up to two years while investigators gather more evidence.
Akcha is the first woman arrested in the case. She is the sister of Khalid Oulad Akcha, who was jailed in a separate case but brought to Madrid under Del Olmo's orders.
Suspicion in the attacks has focused on an alleged Morocco-based terrorist cell believed to have links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and on al-Qaeda itself.
Investigators have analyzed a videotape in which a man claiming to speak on behalf of al-Qaeda said the group carried out the Madrid attack in reprisal for Spain's backing of the US-led war in Iraq.
The prime suspect in the bombings is Jamal Zougam, an immigrant from Morocco. Spanish court documents have linked him to members of an al-Qaeda cell in Spain.
Unconfirmed news reports on Wednesday said Spanish police had identified five of eight people they suspect carried out the attacks, including the alleged cell leader.
The Periodico de Catalunya daily newspaper said Zougam's fingerprints were found in a van that was discovered just hours after the bombings near a train station outside Madrid. Detonators and a cassette tape of verses from the Quran were found in the van.
The arrested Spaniard, Jose Emilio Suarez, has reportedly admitted having helped provide explosives to the Moroccans.
The Spanish royal family wept as they comforted row after row of mourners, clasping hands and kissing cheeks at Wednesday's state funeral for the 190 people killed in the attacks.
On a cold, overcast day, King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and the rest of the royal family joined French President Jacques Chirac, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and Prince Charles, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and more than a dozen other heads of state or government in the 19th century Almudena Cathedral.
"We have cried, and we have cried together," Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela, clad in purple vestments, told the congregation of about 1,500.
The attacks traumatized Spain so deeply that the government took the extraordinary step of holding a state funeral for people outside the royal family.
The organist played the Spanish national anthem as the royal family entered the granite cathedral in Madrid's old quarter. Later, incense wafted through the air as a choir clad in blue gowns sang mournful hymns.
The royal family sat up front during the Mass, with the Spanish government and other politicians immediately behind, including Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and his successor, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Foreign dignitaries sat on the left side of the aisle.
"Great pain has filled your lives and those of your families since that black day in which brutal terrorist violence, planned and executed with unspeakable cruelty, ended the lives of your most beloved," Rouco Varela said.
"From the very first moment -- that of the anguished search and the inevitable identification of your loved ones -- your pain became the pain of our dear city of Madrid, of Spain, and very quickly, of the whole world," he added.
Before the Mass began, one unidentified man in the congregation shouted, "Mr. Aznar, I hold you responsible for the death of my son!"
Neither Aznar nor anyone in his government went to see grieving relatives at the funeral.
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
RSS