Spanish Judge Jails Al Qaeda Suspect
Jan. 21 -- A judge in Spain jailed a suspected member of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network today and ordered anotherto be kept in police custody pending further questioning, news reports said.
Najib Chaib Mohamed, a 35-year-old Spaniard of Moroccan origin,was imprisoned by Judge Ismael Moreno without bail in accordancewith an arrest order issued by fellow magistrate Baltasar Garzon,the private news agency Europa Press said.
Moreno, who was standing in for Garzon, ordered another man,Atmane Resali, 31, from Algeria, to be retained in police custodypending Garzon's planned interrogation of the suspect Tuesday.
No one could be contacted at the court to confirm the reports.
The two were arrested Saturday in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, anindustrial suburb of Barcelona, on a warrant from Garzon. Thearrests were part of an operation in which Garzon jailed eightsuspected terrorists preventively in November on charges of beingal Qaeda members and taking part in preparations for the Sept. 11terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Bin Laden is theprime suspect in the attacks.
Arms, Ammo, and Forged Documents Found
Spain's Interior Ministry, which oversees national security, saidthe two suspects had lived in Madrid in an apartment belonging toLuis Jose Galan, one of the eight jailed in November.
Garzon said Galan had been trained at a camp run by bin Laden inIndonesia in July 2001. At Galan's house, police seized arms,ammunition, machetes and forged identity documents.
National Radio said the two suspects arrested Saturday told Judge Morenothat they thought Galan had permits for the weapons.
The pair apprehended Saturday had fled Madrid following theNovember arrests but were eventually traced to a relative'sapartment in L'Hospitalet. Police said they confiscated documentsand computer material at the apartment.
Authorities had been gathering evidence on Islamic terroristsuspects in Spain for nearly a decade.
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