MADRID, 17 April 2004 — Spanish police arrested three new suspects in connection with the March 11 train bombings in Madrid including the first Egyptian and the first Saudi detained in the case, a court official said yesterday.
The three men, who also include a Moroccan, were arrested Thursday in Madrid and were being questioned by police, the official said.
Twenty-one people including 15 Moroccans are being held in connection with the attack, which killed 191 people and wounded 1,900 three days before Spain’s general election.
In a videotape recovered after seven suspected train bombers blew themselves up rather than surrender on April 3, the three men promised more attacks in the name of Al-Qaeda unless Spain withdraws its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
That would make the train bombings the first attack in the West linked to Al-Qaeda since the Sept. 11 strikes on the United States in 2001.
Of the 19 hijackers in the attacks on New York and Washington, 15 were of Saudi origin and one Egyptian.
Most of the core suspects to date in the Madrid probe have been Moroccan, although authorities say one Tunisian and one Syrian also played central roles.
Police are still searching for a number of identified suspects plus a suspected religious leader or mastermind.
Earlier yesterday, the judge leading the investigation released six Moroccan suspects for lack of evidence.
