MADRID - A prosecutor sought terrorism indictments Monday against 13 suspected members of al-Qaeda, including a suspect allegedly linked to the Sept. 11 attackers. Prosecutor Pedro Rubira filed the request to a magistrate of the National Court who is expected to take at least several weeks to decide whether to indict the suspects. The lead suspect, Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, was one of eight men arrested on November 18, 2001, two months after the Sept. 11 attacks. Monday's request said Yarkas had close ties with Sept. 11 ringleader Mohammed Atta and other purported planners of the attack. When Yarkas was arrested in 2001, officials said his Madrid telephone number was included in an address book found in a Hamburg apartment where Atta once lived. Yarkas was the only one of the 13 suspects accused specifically of taking part in Sept. 11. Rubira said he also recruited members for al-Qaeda, inviting young men to his home for meals and showing them videos of rebels fighting Russian troops in breakaway Chechnya.
| How pleasant. An evening of snuff videos... |
The other 12 suspects are accused of belonging to or collaborating with a terrorist organization, illegal weapons possession and forgery. |