Spain accuses Moroccan over March 11 Madrid bombs

A Spanish judge yesterday ordered a Moroccan suspect be held over the Madrid train bombs after mobile phone records showed he knew other suspects and spoke to some on the day of the attacks, a court source said.

High Court Judge Juan del Olmo accused Fouad el Mourabit, detained again last week after twice being arrested and released, of "cooperating with an armed group".

Eighteen people have now been remanded in custody accused of involvement with the bombings. Three other suspects in the attacks thought to be linked to al Qaeda were also arrested by police over the Easter weekend, the source said.

Evidence showed Mourabit knew many of the people previously detained in the probe as well as some of the seven militants who died when they blew themselves up in a Madrid suburban apartment rather than surrender on April 3, the court source said.

"He talked to some of them both before March 11 and on the day itself," the source said.

Under Spanish law, a judge must first find there is a case to answer, then charges are filed much later in the process.

Mourabit shared a flat earlier this year with Basel Ghayoun, a Syrian accused of playing a central role in the attacks, which killed 191 and injured 1,900, the source said.

Mourabit also lived in 2003 with one of the seven militants who blew themselves up in the Madrid suburb of Leganes, the source said, but declined to name the house mate.

Police say the militants who blew themselves up in Leganes could have been planning a series of Easter attacks.

Police have identified only four of the dead, among them the suspected ringleader of the train bombers, Serhane ben Abdelmajid Farkhet, 35, known as "The Tunisian", and his chief lieutenant, Jamal Ahmidan.

Farkhet was one of those Mourabit was in phone contact with, according to the source.

Mourabit told the investigating judge he was innocent and never suspected his friends were involved in the attack.

But police have cast doubt on how the Moroccan, who said he was an engineering student who did occasional construction work supported himself and paid for rent and travel.

At an unspecified date, Mourabit tried to get papers to go to Germany to study aeronautical engineering, but was refused the papers, the judicial source said.

German police last month searched an apartment in the western city of Darmstadt, leading to speculation of a possible German link to the Madrid bombings. German television said a man named Fouad el Morabit Amgar had been living in the flat.

Two of the others being held were arrested in Parla, a suburb south of Madrid. They were detained together with three other people who were soon released, the source said.

Another suspect was also arrested on Sunday, the source said, but gave no details.

The Spanish daily El Pais said yesterday police had extended their investigations into the bombings to Denmark, as well as Italy, Germany, France, Britain and Morocco, and a judge was expected to issue new international search warrants soon.