Madrid Bombings Trial

Composite image of suspects in Madrid train bombings: Top l-r; Emilio Suarez Trashorras, Jamal Zougam, Rabei Osman. Bottom (l-r); Hasan al Haski, Youssef Belhadj and Abdelmajid Bouchar.

MADRID, Spain -- It was Europe's worst terror attack in more than 15 years -- bombs made of dynamite and nails that ripped through four packed Madrid commuter trains, killing 191 people. On Thursday, 29 suspects are going to trial...The seven ringleaders -- a Tunisian, an Algerian and five Moroccans -- will never see a courtroom. They blew themselves up three weeks after the bombing as police closed in on their hideout in the Madrid suburb of Leganes. Three others are believed to have fled the country... More.

Toronto -- Terrorism suspect Mohamed Mahjoub will soon be living again in Toronto with his wife and two young sons after spending almost seven years behind bars without charges.
A Federal Court justice yesterday ordered his release on a form of house arrest as Canada's courts continue to grapple with the constitutional issues surrounding his case.

Canada's spy service (CSIS) alleges Mahjoub was a high-ranking member of the Egyptian Al Jihad and had contact with other terrorism suspects in Canada.

In 1992, Mahjoub worked for an agricultural company owned by Osama bin Laden in Sudan and later fled to Canada as a refugee. He was convicted in absentia in an Egyptian court in 1999 and in the spring of 2000 was arrested in Toronto on a national security certificate – the provision of the immigration legislation that gives the government the power to deport non-citizens deemed a risk to national security. A Federal Court justice later upheld the certificate as "reasonable," after reviewing public and private evidence provided by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

+ New offensive in Afghanistan will be tough, Bush warns: NATO troops, including Canadians, will face more tough combat this spring as a new offensive is launched against the Taliban in Afghanistan, U.S. President George W. Bush warned yesterday.


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