MADRID, 9 September 2003 — A Spanish judge yesterday ordered a correspondent from Arab television network Al-Jazeera to be held for 72 hours until police could provide more evidence to back their claims about his links to Al-Qaeda, prosecutors said.

Tayseer Alouni, famed for having interviewed Osama Bin Laden shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, was arrested at his home last week in southern Spain on suspicion of providing information and living expenses to Al-Qaeda operatives.

High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon found enough evidence to keep him in custody but demanded that police hand over more evidence to support their allegations, prosecutors said.

Alouni maintained his innocence during a three-and-a-half hour appearance before the judge, and Al-Jazeera condemned his arrest as an attack on press freedom.

The move indicated that Garzon believed there was cause enough to hold Alouni but not enough to order a trial.

After three days, if there are no further delays, Garzon will either free Alouni, a Syrian who says he has Spanish citizenship, or call for his trial.

Prosecutors said Alouni told Garzon he paid $3,000 to $4,000 to members of Al-Qaeda on five or six occasions dating to 1995 when he traveled to Afghanistan and Turkey, but said he did so out of solidarity with Syrian exiles in those countries.

Alouni also said he knew other suspected Al-Qaeda members currently under arrest and that at times they were guests in his home and he helped them with Spanish paperwork, prosecutors said.

Among those he knew was Imad Eddim Barakat Yarkas, known as Abu Dahdah, the suspected leader of a group of men being held on Garzon’s orders on suspicion of playing a role in the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. Police suspect Alouni belonged to Abu Dahdah’s cell in Spain.

Prosecutors made no attempt to link Alouni’s cash payments to his October 2001 interview with Bin Laden. The reporter told Garzon he had been blindfolded and taken to a secret location for the interview.

Spain, one of the staunchest supporters of the US-led war in Iraq and the global campaign against terrorism, has made dozens of high profile arrests of alleged militants since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, but many of those accused of links with groups like Al-Qaeda have subsequently been released.

Alouni’s arrest drew criticism from Arab human rights groups as well as his colleagues at Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, who called on Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar to release him.

Al-Jazeera Chairman Hamad ibn Thamer Al-Thani slammed Alouni’s detention as a “grave injustice” and urged Aznar to intercede on his behalf.

“That a journalist has sources inside an underground organization is a cause for pride, not infamy and persecution,” Thani said in a statement, adding that Alouni’s “exemplary” work in Afghanistan and Iraq was a major factor in the channel’s success.

“No effort, I hope, will be spared by your Excellency to ensure the prompt and immediate release of Mr. Alouni who had recently undergone a heart catharsis operation.”

A spokesman for Aznar said he was unaware if the prime minister had received any letters regarding Alouni but that even if he had such a move was outside his powers.