A Syrian-born Spaniard alleged to be the financial mastermind of an al-Qaida cell that helped plot the September 11 attacks in the US in 2001 said today he had never given “a single peseta” toward a jihad, or holy war.

The suspected financial mastermind of an al-Qaida cell accused of helping plot the September 11 attacks depicted himself today as a legitimate businessman and moderate Muslim who once argued angrily with associates over what constituted grounds for holy war.

A suspected Muslim extremist accused of helping to plot the September 11 attacks in the United States said today he had never even heard of al-Qaida until he was arrested four years ago on suspicion of leading one of its cells.

Twenty-four men will go on trial in Spain today as suspected members of an al-Qaida cell charged with using their new homeland as a staging ground for the September 11, 2001, attacks.