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Suspect in Madrid Train Bombing Was Bankrolled by Saudi Cleric
A Saudi cleric funneled money to an Egyptian described as one of the masterminds of the Madrid train bombings in March, Spanish and Italian newspapers reported Thursday.
Boy, I'm shocked
The Egyptian suspect Rabei Osman Ahmed, arrested in Milan, Italy, in June on a request from Spanish authorities, identified Sheikh Salman al-Awdah, a former university professor in Saudi Arabia, as his financier while he was living in Spain between 2001 and 2003, Spain's El Mundo and Italy's Corriere della Sera said in a joint report.

In a wiretapped conversation before his arrest, Osman Ahmed reportedly said: "The Madrid attack is my project." Spanish authorities have never specified what Osman Ahmed's precise role in the Madrid train bombings was believed to be. But they say he was close to a Tunisian named Serhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet - the alleged ideologue of the bombing cell. Fakhet was among seven suspects who blew themselves up April 3 as police moved in to arrest them.

The newspaper reports Thursday also quoted wiretapped conversations by Osman Ahmed in May while his Milan apartment was bugged by Italian anti-terrorism police. He once described al-Awdah as "everything, everything," the report said. "I worked for him in Spain. I did really well in that period, in which I earned 2,000 euros ($2,400) a month. There were days I earned 1,000 euros ($1,200)," the papers quoted Osman Ahmed as saying in a May 26 conversation with a young man he allegedly was recruiting for suicide attacks in Iraq or Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, al-Awdah spoke on Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television and insisted he did not encourage or call for violence by Muslims. Attempts to reach al-Awdah in Saudi Arabia were unsuccessful. Spanish police declined to comment on the newspaper reports, and Italian authorities were not available.
The reports did not specify whether the money al-Awdah sent to the Egyptian was for financing the Madrid train bombings or simply to cover Osman Ahmed's living expenses.
Which include high explosives, it's in the book.
The reports describe al-Awdah as a friend of Osama bin Laden, who also is Saudi-born. Al-Awdah was jailed during the Gulf War for inciting people against the presence of U.S. forces in the region. He spent five years in jail. Bin Laden praised him and another cleric in videotapes made a few years ago, thanking them for their support and for "enlightening" Muslim youths. But in June, al-Awdah was among six clerics signing a statement condemning attacks on Westerners in Saudi Arabia.
Oh sure, he's against killing them in Saudi, overseas is perfectly OK.
In July, an Italian court approved Spain's request for Osman Ahmed's extradition. But his lawyer appealed this month, saying the Egyptian already was under investigation in Italy and another court has to rule on whether the wiretaps can be used as evidence. No date has been set for a decision.
Posted by: Steve 2004-09-30
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=44684