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A list of suspects and convictions related to the 2004 Madrid Train Bombings. [1]
Jamal Zougam – guilty and given a 50,000-year jail sentence, was arrested two days after the March 2004 attacks. [2]
José Emilio Suárez Trashorras- guilty and given between a 25,000 to 35,000-year jail sentence. [3] and was one of the first to be arrested. [4]
Hamid Ahmidan – found guilty and given between a 23- to 25-year sentence. Moroccan and a cousin of Jamal Ahmidan, these men took part in drug trafficking. His release date from prison is November 2030. [5] After his release, he will be deported to Morocco.
Abdelmajid Bouchar – acquitted of all the bombings and still given between a 15- to 18-year sentence, was detained in Belgrade in August 2005 by Serbian officials. Released November 2023 and deported to Morocco.
Rachid Aglif – found guilty and given between a 15- to 18-year sentence. he was arrested in April and he was an alleged lieutenant of Jamal Ahmidan, who was suspected of having helped acquire the explosives. His release date is set for November 2025. He will be deported to Morocco. While a prisoner in El Castellón, he established a "special friendship" with imam Abdelbaki Es Satty, main suspect of the 2017 Barcelona attacks. [6]
Youssef Belhadj – 30, acquitted of bombings but given 12.5-year sentence for membership of a terrorist organisation. He was arrested in Belgium in February 2005 by the Belgian Police, he allegedly set the date for the attacks and was in Spain for the last-minute preparations. Released November 2019 and deported to Morocco. [7]
Hassan el-Haski – 45 acquitted of bombings but handed 12-year sentence for membership of a terrorist organisation. He was the leader of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group in Spain, which prosecutors blamed for the bombings. Haski, from Morocco, but having been "a long time resident of Molenbeek" [8] (Brussels), was arrested in the Canary Islands in December 2004. He was accused of having been aware of and having instigated the attacks. Released in November 2019 and deported to Morocco.
Mohamed Bouharrat, guilty and given 12-year sentence, was responsible for recruitment and gathering information on targets. Released in November 2019 and deported to Morocco. [9]
Fouad el-Morabit – guilty, 12-year sentence was being held in March 2004 for allegedly belonging to the Madrid terror cell, he also had contacts with Rabei Osman. Released in November 2019 and deported to Morocco.
Mouhannad Almallah Dabas – guilty, 12-year sentence. Released and deported to Morocco.
Saed el-Harrak – guilty, 12-year sentence, currently described as an active cell member. Released in November 2019 and deported to Morocco.
Mohamed Larbi Ben Sellam, guilty, 12-year sentence, was allegedly in charge of bringing propaganda material to meetings of the cell. Prosecutors had asked for 27 years. Released in November 2019 and deported to Morocco.
Basel Ghalyoun – 26, guilty, 12-year sentence, was allegedly had links to Rabei Osman and the presumed ideological mastermind, Serhan Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, a Tunisian who also died in the apartment blast. Prosecutors had sought a 12-year sentence. Released in November 2019 and deported to Morocco.
Rafa Zouhier – 27, guilty of obtaining explosives and given 10-year sentence. Released in November 2017 and deported.
Abdelilah el-Fadual el-Akil, guilty, nine-year sentence, was alleged close associate of Jamal Ahmidan, he had worked at a house on the outskirts of Madrid where some bombs had been made there. Prosecutors had asked for 12 years. Released and deported in November 2016. [10]
Rául González Peláez – guilty and given a 5-year sentence, was allegedly helped him gain access to the explosives in exchange for cocaine. Prosecutors had sought an eight-year sentence. Released in November 2012.
Sergio Alvarez Sánchez – guilty, 3-year sentence travelled in January 2004 to Madrid with a sports bag containing up to 15 kg (33 lbs) of explosives for Jamal Ahmidan. Prosecutors had sought a four-year sentence. Released in November 2010.
Antonio Iván Reis Palacio – guilty, given 3-year sentence, transported explosives to Madrid, Spain. Spanish prosecutors had sought a four-year jail term. Released in November 2010.
Nasreddine Bousbaa – guilty, 3-year sentence, he was allegedly helped forge fake documents. Spanish prosecutors had asked for 13 years in jail. Released in November 2010 and deported.
Mahmoud Slimane Aoun – guilty, 3-year sentence. he was allegedly trying to help Jamal Ahmidan forge documents. Spanish prosecutors had asked for 13 years in jail. Released in November 2010 and deported.
Rabei Osman – arrested in Milan, Italy in June 2004 by Italian State Police for supporting terrorism in Europe. He was held in an Italian prison before being transferred to Spain in 2007 and he was an alleged member of al-Jihad by Ayman al-Zawahiri. [11] [12] Osman was sentenced in Italy on 11 June 2006 to 10 years in prison for plotting terror attack in Italy and afterwards was extradited to Spain in 2007. In February 2007 Osman's trial began in Madrid, along with other 28 defendants, for having a key role in the 2004 Madrid train bombings. In October 2007 Osman was acquitted in Madrid from all charges with other 5 suspects.
Brandon Mayfield was arrested 6 May 2004 on a material witness charge, on the basis of a fingerprint found after 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks. Although Spanish authorities were doubtful that the identification was correct, he was held for two weeks in federal custody until they conclusively identified the fingerprint as belonging to another man and was released by the FBI authorities. [13]
Mustafa Setmariam Nasar – arrested in Quetta, Pakistan in October 2005 as he was shopping for breakfast, close to the Pakistani-Afghan border by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence. He was held as a Spanish citizenship since the late 1980s following marriage to a Spanish woman. He was wanted for the 2004 Madrid bombings and the 2005 London Bombings. The FBI had offered a US$5 million reward for his capture and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan stated in that his country has received a huge amount of substantial sums in bounties from American authorities.
Abdelilah Hriz – arrested in his native Morocco in January 2008 by Moroccan police. [14] In Rabat, Hriz was found guilty and sentenced up to 20 years in prison in December 2008.[ citation needed ]
On 29 April 2011, the German Federal Police arrested 3 Moroccans in the western German city of Düsseldorf and one in nearby Bochum. The Moroccans were linked with the 2004 Madrid train bombings and 2005 London transit attacks. The arrests were based on suspicion they were planning a terror attack in the country, they said. Local media reports that officers had seized large amounts of explosives when the three were arrested. The three alleged terrorists were brought to a judge the next day and they are to remain in detention pending an awaiting trial. [15]
Richard Colvin Reid, also known as the Shoe Bomber, is the perpetrator of the failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young man in prison after years as a petty criminal. Later he became radicalized and went to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he trained and became a member of al-Qaeda.
The 2003 Casablanca bombings, commonly known as May 16, were a series of coordinated suicide bombings on May 16, 2003, in Casablanca, Morocco. Twelve suicide bombers loyal to the Salafia Jihadia organization detonated bombs hidden in backpacks in the Casa de España restaurant, the Hotel Farah, the Jewish Alliance of Casablanca, and sites near the Belgian consulate and an old Jewish cemetery. The attacks, which were later claimed by al-Qaeda, were the deadliest terrorist attacks in Morocco's history, claiming the lives of forty-five people and injuring at least 100. Despite deliberately targeting Jews, none of the victims were Jews as the attack occurred during Shabbat.
The 2004 Madrid train bombings were a series of coordinated, nearly simultaneous bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of 11 March 2004—three days before Spain's general elections. The explosions killed 193 people and injured around 2,050. The bombings constituted the deadliest terrorist attack carried out in the history of Spain and the deadliest in Europe since 1988. The attacks were carried out by individuals who opposed Spanish involvement in the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, known by the French acronym GICM, was a Sunni Islamist militant organization that operated in Morocco, North Africa, and Western Europe. The organization's objective was to establish an Islamic government in Morocco.
Mounir el-Motassadeq was convicted by a German court of being a member of al-Qaeda and of assisting some of the hijackers in the September 11 attacks. He was initially convicted of involvement in the attack, but his sentence was set aside on appeal, then reinstated on further appeal. On 8 January 2007, he was sentenced to serve 15 years by the court of Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht, Hamburg, because of 246 counts of accessory to murder in coincidence with membership in a terrorist organisation. On 15 October 2018, el-Motassadeq was deported to Morocco after serving his sentence.
On Thursday, 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks by Islamist extremists disrupted part of London's public transport system as a follow-up attack from the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The explosions occurred around midday at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations on the London Underground, and on London Buses route 26 in Haggerston. A fifth bomber dumped his device without attempting to set it off.
Jamal Zougam is one of six men implicated in the 2004 Madrid train bombings. He was detained on 13 March 2004, accused of multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, stealing a vehicle, belonging to a terrorist organisation and four counts of carrying out terrorist acts. Spain's El País newspaper reported that three witnesses testified to seeing him leave a rucksack aboard one of the bombed trains, specifically, the one that exploded at Santa Eugenia station.
Security issues in Germany covers the major threats to Germany's national and international security.
Abu Dujana Al-Afghani, or Abu Nayaf al-Afghani was a claimed spokesperson for "Al-Qaeda of Europe" who demanded an end to Spanish support and involvement in the War on Terror. Abu Dujana claimed responsibility for the 2004 Madrid train bombings, as well as a failed train bombing the following month.
The controversy regarding the handling and representation of the Madrid train bombings by the government arose with Spain's two main political parties, Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Partido Popular (PP), accusing each other of concealing or distorting evidence for electoral reasons.
The Columbus Shopping Mall bombing plot was a plan to detonate an explosive in a shopping mall in the city of Columbus, Ohio, United States. The plot was disclosed by federal authorities on June 14, 2004, when an indictment against Nuradin Abdi was unsealed by the local United States District Court. Abdi was part of a clandestine cell of al-Qaeda which sought to bring "death and destruction to Columbus".
Karim Thami el-Mejjati was a Moroccan-French convicted terrorist who has been claimed to have aided the Riyadh compound bombings, the 2003 Casablanca bombings, the 2004 Madrid train bombings and the 2005 London bombings as member of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group.
Farooque Ahmed is a Pakistani American from Ashburn, Virginia who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for plotting to bomb Washington Metro stations at Arlington Cemetery, Pentagon City, Crystal City, and Court House. He was charged with attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, collecting information to assist in planning a terrorist attack on a transit facility, and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. On April 11, 2011, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty.
The 2010 Portland car bomb plot involved an incident in which Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali-American student, was arrested in an FBI sting operation on November 26, 2010, after attempting to set off what he thought was a car bomb at a Christmas tree lighting in Portland, Oregon. He was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. An attorney for Mohamud argued that his client was entrapped. On January 31, 2013, a jury found Mohamud guilty of the single charge against him. He was scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, 2013, however the sentencing was cancelled in anticipation of the filing of new motions by the defense. In September 2014, Mohamud was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison with credit for time served, as well as lifetime supervision upon release in 2040.
Rabei Osman Syed Ahmed is an Egyptian citizen who was arrested in July 2004 by Italian State Police on terrorism charges. He was accused of multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, stealing a vehicle, belonging to a terrorist organisation and four counts of carrying out terrorist acts of the 2004 Madrid train bombings.
Amine El Khalifi is a Moroccan man who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for plotting to carry out a suicide bombing on the United States Capitol. He was charged with "attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against federal property" and now convicted, faces 30 years in prison.
The Brussels Islamic State terror cell was a group involved in large-scale terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015 and Brussels in March 2016. The terror cell was connected to the Islamic State (IS), a jihadist terrorist organisation primarily based in Syria and Iraq.
On the afternoon of 17 August 2017, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van into pedestrians on La Rambla street in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain killing 13 people and injuring at least 130 others, one of whom died 10 days later on 27 August. Abouyaaqoub fled the attack on foot, then killed another person in order to steal the victim's car to make his escape.
Abdelbaki Es Satty was a Moroccan imam in Ripoll, Spain. On 21 August, he was confirmed to have died in an accidental explosion in Alcanar on 16 August, which began the 2017 Barcelona attacks. Satty is believed to have been the mastermind of the planned attacks and to have radicalised the twelve terrorists responsible into the Takfir wal-Hijra sect, which allows adherents to copy typically "Western" behaviour often forbidden in Islam in order to conceal their radicalisation and terror plans. However, he was also serving as an informant to Spain's intelligence agency, CNI.
Left the provincial prison in Castellón in January 2012. The reason for his incarceration: drug trafficking. In particular he passed hashish. He was in charge of making the route Ceuta-Algeciras. In the nearly two years that he was in prison, he was in charge of praying with the rest of the inmates and made special friendships with one of them, Rachid Aglif, alias El Conejo, sentenced to 18 years for having participated in the Madrid Bombings.
Hassan el Haski, condenado a 15 años de prisión por ser uno de los cerebros de los atentados del 11-M del año 2014 en Madrid, también vivió estancias prolongadas en el barrio de la capital belga
People listed in italics have died. | |
| 2004 Madrid train bombings | |
| Held in Guantanamo Bay | |
| al-Jihad members | |
| 2005 London bombings | |
| September 11 attacks | |
| Others | |
1 Currently imprisoned. 2 Released after serving sentence. | |
