Security forces killed a man described as the military adviser to the head of an al Qaida affiliate in Algeria in an assault on a mountain hide-out, it was reported.

A co-defendant told police that a key al-Qaida suspect – who earlier this week called himself a peace-loving moderate Muslim – is a radical who recruited men for “holy war” training in Afghanistan, according to testimony read to a Madrid court today.

One of the three Moroccans arrested in the Madrid train bombings was a follower of a suspected al-Qaida member jailed in Spain for allegedly helping plan the September 11 attacks in the United States, according to court documents.

A Spanish judge, has accused eight suspected Islamic terrorists, of playing a role in the September 11 attacks, and has ordered them to be held in prison.