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| Britain |
| UK Prosecutors Cite Alleged al-Qaida Link |
| 2004-07-15 |
| A Moroccan arrested in Britain was linked to one of al-Qaida's top leaders in Europe and spoke to him shortly before the Sept. 11 attacks in language suggesting he may have known of the plot, prosecutors said Thursday. Farid Hilali, 35, telephoned Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, who is suspected of leading an al-Qaida cell in Spain, a few weeks before Sept. 11, 2001, said prosecutor James Lewis, who spoke for the Spanish government in its effort to extradite Hilali. The Moroccan told Yarkas "he had a month to go and that he had some important matters to do. ... Everything was going to be fine. ... He had entered into the aviation sector. ... He had slit the throat of the bird," interpreted as code for the United States, Lewis said. Authorities have said they intercepted and taped the call. Hilali allegedly spoke to Yarkas after the attacks of being "sick," code for under police surveillance, the prosecutor said. District Judge Timothy Workman ordered that Hilali continue to be held without bail on the European arrest warrant issued by Spain. Britain has detained him for months for suspected immigration offenses and announced last month that he had been arrested on the Spanish anti-terrorism warrant. The warrant alleged that Hilali participated "in a commando (group) that is being trained on aircrafts, a few days before the attacks" of Sept. 11, 2001, and that he directed some al-Qaida activities. Lewis said Hilali had lived in Britain from 1987 to 1997 and then left for Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The prosecutor said Hilali had been detained in the United Arab Emirates in 1999 for using forged British documents. He then returned to Spain, was deported to Morocco, and re-entered Britain in September 2000, Lewis said. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |