Al-Qaida agent 'introduced' top Madrid bomb suspects

SPANISH police believe a top al-Qaida operative in Europe put two key suspects in the Madrid bombings in contact with each other and gave the planned attack the blessing of the organisation, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Alleged attack co-ordinator Sarhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet of Tunisia met with al-Qaida operative Amer Azizi in Turkey to ask for fighters to stage an attack in Madrid, El Mundo said.

Azizi, a Moroccan who remains at large, was indicted on terrorism charges last September by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon as part of his probe into an al-Qaida cell he is accused of helping prepare the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.