Spain remands al Qaeda suspects
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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Judge Baltasar Garzon has ordered four suspected al Qaeda members to remain in jail following their arrests, a court order obtained by CNN says.
The men, a Moroccan and three Syrians, have been accused of belonging to the al Qaeda branch in Spain and were ordered to be held without bail.
The group was arrested last Thursday, a day after Garzon issued a 700-page indictment against 35 other people, including al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. At least eight of the 35 have been linked to the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
Three of the latest four suspects are accused of having links with the Al Jazeera TV correspondent Tayseer Allouni, arrested earlier this month in Granada.
Syrian-born Allouni is alleged to be connected with al Qaeda. He interviewed bin Laden soon after the September 11 attacks, but is not said to be tied with the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Allouni maintains his innocence. (Full story)
Two of those arrested, identified as Syrian-born Ahmad Koshagi Kelani and his brother Waheed Koshaji Kelani, are accused of financing al Qaeda activities.
All four men have been linked to Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, the Syrian-born suspected al Qaeda ringleader in Spain, who has been in jail for nearly two years.
One of the four, Moroccan Saddick Merizak, is alleged to have phoned Barakat Yarka to arrange a meeting in Tarragona ahead of the September attacks.
He is accused of making the phone call on December 1, 2000, saying "the next meeting would be in Tarragona."
The phone call was apparently recorded by authorities.
The court order went on to say that Mohamed Atta -- a suicide pilot in the attacks and the alleged ringleader -- arrived in Spain the following month.
While authorities know little about Atta's movements or contacts during that January visit, the court order said that during a second visit to Tarragona, in July 2001, Atta met with "other members of the cell that perpetrated the attacks of September 11, 2001."
The 700-page indictment, said: "From the available facts, and above all, from the concurrent circumstances, one gathers that both terrorists, Ramzi Binalshibih (now in U.S. custody) and Mohamed Atta, met in Tarragona to determine the exact date of the attacks and to finalize the operating method for the material authors and for the group members who would provide support and cover from Europe."
Sunday's 16-page court order did not elaborate on the July, 2001, meeting in Tarragona, near Barcelona.
Merizak was described as the most highly trained in terrorist techniques of the men who were arraigned Sunday in Madrid. He was arrested last Thursday in Alicante, a province in southeastern Spain.
Also known as "Abdelrahman," he had previously trained in Afghanistan in al Qaeda techniques to prepare him to become a guard, the order said.
On Sunday, Garzon ruled that a fifth person -- a Syrian man who was also arrested Thursday -- would be released if he could post $65,400 within three days. The court order accused him of the lesser charge of collaboration with al Qaeda.
Defense lawyers said the five men were innocent.
Spain, along with Germany, have been regarded as key staging grounds for the September 11 attacks. Authorities have previously told CNN that al Qaeda "sleeper cells" in Spain provided financing, lodging, forged documents and recruitment for al Qaeda.
Since the attacks, about 40 Islamic extremist suspects have been arrested in Spain.
Some have been released for lack of evidence and others have been released on bail. None have faced trial.
-- CNN's Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman contributed to this report
