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| Europe |
| Italy Hands Train Bombing Suspect to Spain |
| 2004-12-08 |
| An Egyptian who was arrested after allegedly boasting about his role in the Madrid train bombings was extradited from Italy to Spain on Tuesday. "Hrarrr! Blew the infidels to smithereens! An' then... An' then... Oh. Hello, officer." Rabei Osman Ahmed, alleged to be a key figure in the March 11 bombings that killed 191 people, was arrested in Milan in June, and the Italian Supreme Court agreed last week to deliver him to Spain for six months for questioning. Spanish authorities say they must then return Osman Ahmed to Italy, where he is still under investigation for links to Muslim militant groups in Europe. Spanish Judge Juan del Olmo, who is leading the investigation into the attacks, said Osman Ahmed, while living in Madrid, "managed to take control of a small group of Arab followers, all of them with extremist Islamic ideology, supporters of jihad and Osama bin Laden." Spanish authorities say the Egyptian, considered an expert in explosives, was a key figure in the planning of the bombings and in the structure of al-Qaida in Europe. Spanish investigators are especially eager to interrogate him because the other suspected ringleaders are dead — they were among seven suspects who blew themselves up on April 3. |
| Posted by:Fred |