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.
DOUBLE-MURDER CASE: The officer told the dispatcher he would check the locations of the callers, but instead headed to a pizzeria, remaining there for about an hour A New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors said he did not quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead allegedly stopping at an ATM and pizzeria. Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of Aug. 1, when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 96km from Manhattan in central New Jersey, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office said. However, rather than responding immediately, prosecutors said GPS data and surveillance video showed Bollaro drove about 3km
‘MOTHER’ OF THAILAND: In her glamorous heyday in the 1960s, former Thai queen Sirikit mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley The year-long funeral ceremony of former Thai queen Sirikit started yesterday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her body to lie in state at Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Members of the royal family are venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures, and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Sirikit, the mother of Thai King Vajiralongkorn and widow of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, died late on Friday at the age of 93. Black-and-white tributes to the royal matriarch are being beamed onto towering digital advertizing billboards, on
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Spain’s eastern city of Valencia to mark the first anniversary of floods that killed 229 people and to denounce the handling of the disaster. Demonstrators, many carrying photos of the victims, called on regional government head Carlos Mazon to resign over what they said was the slow response to one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades. “People are still really angry,” said Rosa Cerros, a 42-year-old government worker who took part with her husband and two young daughters. “Why weren’t people evacuated? Its incomprehensible,” she said. Mazon’s
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering. More than 60 countries signed the declaration, which means it would go into force once ratified by those states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the signing as an “important milestone,” and that it was “only the beginning.” “Every day, sophisticated scams destroy families, steal migrants and drain billions of dollars from our economy...
RSS