Spain to ask Italy to extradict Egyptian

The Spanish government agreed today to ask Italy to extradite an Egyptian considered one of the masterminds of the Madrid terror attack.

The Cabinet approved an extradition request it received from investigating magistrate Juan del Olmo, who is leading the probe into the bombings in Madrid that killed 190 people and injured more than 2,000.

The next step is for the Spanish Foreign Ministry to pass on the extradition request to its embassy in Rome over the next few days.

The embassy will then present it to the Italian government, officials said.

Rabei Osman Ahmed, known as Mohammed the Egyptian, was arrested in Milan on Monday.

Spain considers him a key figure in the planning of the March 11 attacks in Madrid and “a person of major importance in the structure of al-Qaida in Spain and the European Union.”

Spanish investigators are keen to interrogate Osman Ahmed because the government says other alleged ringleaders were among seven suspects who blew themselves up on April 3 as special forces moved in to arrest them in an apartment outside Madrid.

An Italian judge questioned Osman Ahmed for the first time since the arrest yesterday, but he refused to answer questions.