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Three men have
appeared in
court in Spain
charged with
helping to plan
the 11 September
2001 attacks in
the US.
They include the
alleged head of
an al-Qaeda cell
in Spain, who is
accused of
arranging a
meeting
allegedly
attended by one
of the 19
attackers.
Another man is
charged with
filming the
World Trade
Center and
giving the tapes
to militants
before the US
attacks.
They are among
24 defendants in
Europe's largest
trial of
suspected
al-Qaeda members.
All deny the
charges.
High security
As the 24
arrived at the
courthouse in
Madrid, armed
police stood
guard outside
the building and
a police
helicopter
circled
overhead.
The suspects -
mostly men born
in Syria or
Morocco - sat in
a bullet-proof
chamber inside
the
high-security
courtroom as the
charges were
read out.
During the
opening hearing
prosecutors
questioned Jose
Luis Galan, also
known as Ghassub
al-Abrash
Ghaylun.
Mr Galan is
accused of
filming the
World Trade
Center and other
US targets.
The tapes were
then allegedly
passed on to
"operative
members of
al-Qaeda and
would become the
preliminary
information on
the attacks
against the Twin
Towers", the
indictment said.
"I absolutely
condemn all
terrorist acts,
all violent acts,"
the Spaniard
told the court,
the Reuters news
agency reported.
The main
defendant at the
trial is
Syrian-born
Immad Yarkas,
42, known as Abu
Dahdah.
Mr Yarkas was
arrested by
Spanish
authorities in
November 2001 on
suspicion of
heading an
al-Qaeda cell
that allegedly
provided funding
and logistics
for the people
who planned the
attacks on the
World Trade
Center and the
Pentagon.
Along with
Moroccan-born
Driss Chebli, he
is said to have
set up a meeting
in June 2001
which was
allegedly
attended by at
least one of the
attack
ringleaders,
Mohamed Atta,
who piloted one
of the planes
that hit the
Twin Towers.
Prosecutors want
the three men to
receive more
than 60,000
years in jail -
25 for each of
the more than
2,000 people
killed on 11
September 2001.
People grow
older and older,
but how old?
Do those three
persons live
long enough?
Maybe they die
before time,
what then?
I´m happy to
find out, that
I´m not the only
idiot in the
world!
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