A suspected Islamist linked to the Madrid train bombings on March 11 says Spain was targeted because of its support for the United States in Iraq, local media reported on Friday.
The former conservative government denied that Spain’s war alliance with the US had turned it into a terrorist target. Former prime minister Jose Maria Aznar said recently that the Madrid attacks had ”nothing to do” with Iraq.
Investigating Judge Baltasar Garzon ordered unconditional prison time for four out of five people detained in connection with various Islamist cells this week.
Two of the detainees, Moroccan-born Khalid Zeimi Pardo and Mohammed al-Ouazzani, are believed to have participated in meetings with some of the perpetrators of the Madrid massacre, which killed 191 people.
One of the suspects told Garzon that Madrid was chosen because Spain’s participation in the Iraq conflict had turned it into an ”enemy of Islam”, reports said.
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero recalled Spanish troops from Iraq immediately after winning the elections held three days after the bombings. — Sapa-DPA