Belgium removes last legal obstacle for extradition of Moroccan Youssef Belhadj

A Belgian court rejected Wednesday an appeal lodged by Moroccan Youssef Belhadj to the Cassation Court regarding his extradition to Spain where he is wanted for suspected involvement in the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people last year.

The Moroccan-born Belhadj, 28, has exhausted all legal means to appeal the decision to extradite him. The extradition may be carried out in the next few days, according to Spanish legal sources.

Belhadj is mainly suspected of being Al-Qaeda spokesman in Europe. He was arrested on February 1st in Brussels, a few hours after the arrest of four Moroccans in Spain.

He was arrested for the first time in March 2004 during a probe on the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) before being released for lack of evidence.