Pakistanis in Spain terror charge 

BBC News 13 April, 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4442059.stm

A Spanish judge has charged 11 Pakistani citizens with helping finance terrorist groups around the world.

Judge Ismael Moreno accused the men, who were arrested late last year, of forming a cell in Barcelona to aid global terrorism and al-Qaeda.

They are also accused of having had links with those behind the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which left 191 dead.

Dozens of suspected Islamist extremists have been detained in Spain since 11 September 2001 and the Madrid attack.

The man suspected of leading the group, Mohammad Afzaal, travelled to Dubai last year to meet an unidentified al-Qaeda leader and was told to maintain a terrorist cell in Spain and in Norway or Denmark, the authorities say.

Videos found

Mr Afzaal is suspected of sending money to Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, also known as "Mohammed the Egyptian" who is currently in custody on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings.

The magistrate said the group "was constituted in Barcelona with a view to supporting global jihad [holy war or struggle] from Spanish territory [via] the financing of concrete terrorist acts and people recruited to carry them out".

When the group were arrested, police found computer videos of the 11 March attacks, the judge said, according to the Associated Press news agency.

He said officers also found video footage of prominent buildings in Barcelona such as the 1992 Olympic Village, the city’s twin office towers and the Maremagnum commercial complex located near the port.