Madrid bombing 'was bin Laden plot'

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 Osama bin Laden’s terror organisation, a newspaper reported today.

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