Spain's leading investigating judge has issued the first known indictment against Osama bin Laden in the Sept. 11 attacks, accusing al-Qaida of using the country as a base to plot the devastating strikes on New York and Washington.
Investigative magistrate Baltasar Garzon indicted 35 people Wednesday for terrorist activities connected to bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
The indictment charged bin Laden and nine others with membership in a terrorist organization and "as many crimes of terrorist murder ... as there were dead and injured" in the deadly Sept. 11 attacks.
PHOTO: AP
Bin Laden, who is believed to be hiding in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan, is under indictment in the USs for the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and is the object of a manhunt by thousands of US-led coalition troops and Afghan forces.
Justice Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US government did not play a direct role in the Spanish indictment.
Garzon said terrorism is one of the crimes included in Spain's universal justice legislation, under which some offenses, such as crimes against humanity, can be tried here even if they were committed elsewhere.
Garzon, who is known for taking on high-profile cases, has used this law to try to prosecute abuses under military rule in Chile and Argentina.
The list of 35 indicted Wednesday includes Tayssir Alouni, the Al-Jazeera journalist arrested Sept. 8 in Spain, and Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, who was accused of leading an al-Qaida cell in Spain and was arrested in Madrid in November 2001.
Six others believed to be in Spain also were indicted, but not all will be jailed, according to the document, which was obtained by The Associated Press. Garzon ratified jailing orders for 11 already in prison in Spain.
Three of the 10 suspects accused of Sept. 11 involvement are in Spain -- two in jail and one out on bail.
Garzon also accused the suspects of belonging to a terrorist group and other crimes, including weapons possession, tax fraud and forgery.
Others on the indictment list include Ramzi Binalshibh, another leader of the Hamburg, Germany, cell that helped plan the Sept. 11 attacks. He was arrested in Pakistan in September 2002 and is in US custody.
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