Spain opens 9/11 Al-Qaida trial

AL-QAIDA’S suspected leader in Spain went on trial yesterday on charges of helping to plot the September 11 attack by aiding one of the suicide pilots.

Two alleged accomplices face identical charges, and 21 other suspected al-Qaida cell members are accused of terrorism, illegal weapons possession and other offences.

Spain is only the second country, after Germany, to try suspects in connection with the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in 2001.

The main suspect is Imad Yarkas, a 42-year-old father of six who is alleged to have overseen a cell that provided logistical cover for the September 11 plotters, including Mohamed Atta, who is believed to have piloted one of the two hijacked planes that destroyed the Twin Towers.

Prosecutors are seeking prison terms of nearly 75,000 years each for him and two other key suspects accused of helping plan the attacks, although under Spanish law, the maximum time they can serve for a terrorism conviction would be 40 years.

The 21 other defendants most of Syrian or Moroccan origin wore casual street clothes and sat on benches in a cramped, bullet-proof chamber at a makeshift courtroom as the trial before a three-judge panel got under way under tight security.

Yesterday's session lasted less than three hours as the panel heard testimony from one of 21 defendants Luis Jose Galan, the only native Spaniard on trial, a convert to Islam who is accused of weapons possession and belonging to al-Qaida.

Yarkas is expected to testify next week.