MADRID, 17 February 2007 — Two more alleged masterminds behind the deadly 2004 Madrid train bombings denied yesterday any involvement in the attacks and followed an accused co-plotter in refusing to address the court directly. On the second day of the trial of 29 people charged over the blasts that killed 191 people in one of Europe’s worst terror strikes, Moroccan’s Youssef Belhadj and Hassan El-Haski both insisted on their innocence.
“I am a normal Muslim. I condemn the attacks and all kinds of violence,” said Belhadj, while El-Haski stressed that he was “not linked in any way” to the bombings.
They also denied any connection with Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network which, according to prosecutors, provided the inspiration for the coordinated attacks on four packed commuter trains that left more than 1,800 people injured.
Both men are among four of the alleged masterminds behind the bombings. Another, Rabei Osman, declared his innocence on Thursday.
All three men refused to address the court, save for their defense counsel.
Also in the dock yesterday was one of the actual alleged bombers, Jamal Zougam, who denied being at the scene of the crime.
“It’s impossible I was there. I was asleep at home,” said Zougam, 33, who four witnesses claimed to have seen on one of the targeted trains. Unlike the others, Zougam agreed to address the prosecution.
El-Haski, meanwhile, denied the existence of the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group (GICM), which authorities claim he led in Europe and played a part in the bombings.
“The group is a fiction,” said El-Haski, who also argued that Al-Qaeda “doesn’t exist.” El-Haski said he deplored the carnage reaped by the 2004 bombings.
“Any Muslim would condemn these acts. This is a crime. Who can accept attacks on innocent people?” he said.
Osman, nicknamed “Mohammed the Egyptian,” had Thursday also condemned the blasts, as well as the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and the July 2005 London bombings.
The prosecution says the Madrid blasts, the worst terrorist attack in Europe since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing left 270 people dead, were the work of extremists angered by Spanish participation in the US-led invasion of Iraq.
In his charge-sheet drawn up 10 months ago, examining magistrate Juan del Olmo attributed the attacks to the GICM, dubbed a North African Al-Qaeda offshoot also operative in Europe.
Belhadj insisted in his testimony that he did not know “Mohammed the Egyptian” or the other main plotters, who have also denied knowing each other.
The 30-year-old from the Moroccan town of Touzine also denied being “Abou Dujanah,” Al-Qaeda spokesman in Europe, who appeared on a video claiming responsibility for the blasts.
Investigators found the videotape in a dustbin outside the main Madrid mosque two days after the attack.
