MADRID, 24 October 2003 — A Spanish judge decided yesterday to release on bail for medical reasons a journalist from Arab television network Al-Jazeera accused of belonging to an Al-Qaeda cell in Spain, court sources said. Tayseer Alouni, best known for interviewing Osama Bin Laden shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, was arrested in early September at his home in the southern Spanish city of Granada.
Alouni was charged with providing money and information to Al-Qaeda operatives and recruiting fighters for the group. The judge set bail of 6,000 euros ($7,000) for Syrian-born Alouni, who recently underwent a serious heart operation.
Court sources said the money had been paid and Alouni should be released from a prison on the outskirts of Madrid this afternoon. Under the terms of his bail, Alouni cannot leave the country without the court’s permission and he must report each week to the court nearest his home.
Alouni’s arrest sparked outrage among Arab human rights groups, journalists and colleagues at Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, who called it an attack on press freedom. Alouni was among 11 men remanded in custody in mid-September by High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon.
