Madrid attacks: Moroccan charged with 191 murders
Morocco-Spain, Local, 12/23/2004

A Spanish judge ordered on Tuesday night that Moroccan national, Hassan El Haski, arrested last Friday in the Canary Islands, be put under provisional detention for suspicion of participating in last March's terrorist attacks in Madrid.

Hassan El Haski, was charged with 191 counts of murder and at least 1,000 counts of attempted murder. Juan del Olmo, an attorney in charge of investigating the attacks, that left 191 people dead, suspects the Moroccan of being "one of the most important leaders" of the Moroccan banned Islamic combatant group and that he plotted and took an effective part in these operations.

El Haski, 41, was also interrogated on Tuesday by terrorism-specialized judge Baltazar Garzon in connection with the Casablanca attacks in May 2003 that caused the death of 45 people, including four Spanish nationals.

The man is facing charges of creating a new structure of the banned Moroccan radical group after the movement cells were destroyed in France and Belgium and after its members fled Spain.

A Belgian letters rogatory issued after an extremist group was arrested in Belgium notified to the Spanish judge of the connection between El Haski and the Madrid attacks.

Attila Turk, a man arrested in Madrid, had also told the judge that El Haski knew of the Madrid attacks and confided that his "group of Moroccans in Spain" was behind the massacres in the train station in Madrid.

According to Turk, the Moroccan fled Spain and hid in Belgium, before settling in the Canary Islands.

The Spanish justice also suspects his two brothers of being leading members of the Moroccan Islamic combatant group.

Three other Moroccans were arrested at the same time as Hassan.

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan among four suspected Islamic militants arrested in Spain   (12/15/2004)
  Spain detains Moroccan in connection with terror inquiry   (11/24/2004)
  Over 6,800 Moroccans granted Spanish citizenship   (11/10/2004)

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