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AROUND THE WORLD 3: Trial Begins for 9/11 Suspects in Spain

On Friday April 22, 2005, trial will begin in Spain to prosecute suspects believed to have responsibility in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Twenty-four people will go on trial as suspected members of an al-Qaida cell. They are charged with using their new homeland of Spain as a staging ground for the September 11, 2001, attacks. Spain becomes only the second country after Germany to try suspects in the al-Qaida terrorist assault on the United States.

Spain itself was struck by suspected al-Qaida-linked terrorists. In Madrid, Spain's capital city, a train was bombed in March 2004 and 191 people were killed. This week's trial is expected to layout legal guidelines for that case as well. Under Spanish law, terrorism is classified as a crime that can be prosecuted there even if it is alleged to have been committed in another country.

Baltasar Garzon, Spain's top anti-terrorism lawyer, has said his investigation showed that Muslim militants have been leading discreet lives operated freely in Spain for years. Militants were allegedly recruiting men for terrorist training in Afghanistan, preaching holy war and laundering money for al-Qaida operations.

Prosecutors have requested jail terms of almost 75,000 years each for the 9/11 defendants--25 years for each of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attack. Under Spanish law, the maximum time they can serve for a terrorism conviction is 40 years.

The trial is being held under tight security at a trade fair pavilion. The normal venue for such proceedings would be the National Court, but it was considered too small for a trial with so many defendants, lawyers and reporters. The trial is expected to last for up to four months.

--Written by Sevonne Cohen

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