Closing the Case

With one blow, a three-judge panel at the Spanish High Court today convicted 21 people for the 2004 terror attacks on its commuter trains and undermined a three-year-old political conspiracy theory about the Al Qaeda-inspired violence.

After a two-year investigation and a nearly five-month-long trial that included about 750 witnesses, the court ruled unanimously to sentence 21 of the 29 defendants to prison terms ranging from three to 40,000 years for various counts of homicide, attempted homicide, belonging to and collaboration with a terrorist group, falsifying documents and trafficking in explosives.

The largest prison terms went to Moroccans Jamal Zougam and Othman el Gnaoui and Spaniard Emilio Suárez Trashorras. Zougam and El Gnaoui received nearly 40,000 years in prison for the 191 people killed and 1,800 injured when 10 backpack bombs exploded on four Madrid trains on March 11, 2004. Suárez, who supplied the explosives from a mine in the Asturias region of Northern Spain, received about 31,000 years in prison. Despite the long prison sentences, Spanish law states that those convicted of terrorist crimes can spend no more than 40 years behind bars.

Eight of the defendants were found not guilty of the accusations, the majority linked to the theft of explosives from Asturias. Notably, the court absolved Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, a.k.a. "The Egyptian," who was accused of being one of the attacks' masterminds. He is currently serving a prison term in Italy for terror crimes. Nevertheless, most of the accused are considered secondary figures in the plot, as the seven suspected ringleaders blew themselves up when police surrounded their Madrid apartment about three weeks after the blasts. According to the police, the North African perpetrators were inspired by Al Qaeda but had no direct links to the terror group.

Today's verdict marks the close of Spain's second major Al Qaeda-related trial since the attacks. In September 2005, the High Court convicted 18 men of collaborating with or recruiting for Al Qaeda. (The court later absolved three men on appeal.) One of the convicted, known as Abu Dahdah, was considered Al Qaeda's top man in Europe and was linked to the Hamburg cell that committed the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington seven years ago.

More cases are pending. On Oct. 22 a Spanish judge indicted 22 people on charges of belonging to or collaborating with a cell suspected of recruiting fighters to send to Iraq. A day later, police arrested six North Africans charged with belonging to an international network that promotes jihad on the Internet and recruits volunteers.