Spaniards accused of Madrid bombings role

Three Spaniards accused of helping supply the dynamite used in the Madrid train bombings were charged with terrorism today.

After hours of questioning, Judge Juan del Olmo charged them with collaborating with a terrorist organisation.

He released the three on bail

The judge’s decision gives the court up to two more years to investigate the suspects before deciding whether to indict them and seek a trial.

Court officials said the three Spaniards – among 10 arrested since last week in the northern mining region of Asturias in connection with the dynamite – may have played a minor role in the theft of the explosives. The March 11 attack killed 190 people.

Del Olmo said he would keep five more of the suspects in jail to check out aspects of their testimony, then decide whether to charge or release them.

The government has said the Islamic militant cell that staged the Madrid attacks traded drugs and cash for 440 pounds of dynamite stolen from a mine in Asturias.