Train data found in computer of Madrid suspect

Police found detailed data on Spanish trains, a map of the London Underground and information on Montreal’s rail system on the personal computer of a Moroccan who was questioned over the Madrid terror bombings and later released, it was reported today.

Abdelhak Chergui, a 32-year-old Moroccan who studies telecommunications in Spain, was arrested in May along with his brother Abdelkhalak and questioned by Judge Juan del Olmo, the magistrate leading the investigation of the March 11, 2004, bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500 people.

At the time, police said the two were suspected of helping to finance the attacks and providing weapons to people accused of carrying them out.

Del Olmo released them for lack of evidence, however, after ordering them to surrender their passports.

But police kept investigating Abdelhak Chergui, and in an examination of his personal computer found detailed information on the Madrid, London and Montreal train systems, El Pais said, quoting a police report submitted to the judge in September.

Police today declined to comment on the newspaper report.

El Pais did not say if Spanish police suspected Chergui of any role in the deadly London terror attacks of July or if Spanish authorities planned to bring him in for more questioning.

The Madrid attacks were claimed by Muslim militants who said they acted on al Qaida’s behalf to avenge the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq under then-Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, a conservative.

Socialists led by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero won a general election held three days after the bombings. Zapatero withdrew the troops shortly after taking power.

A total of 26 people are in jail in connection with the Madrid bombings, but about 80 more who were questioned and released are still considered suspects.