PARIS — A Spanish judge indicted Osama bin Laden and 34 other suspects on terrorism charges Wednesday, alleging that operatives in Spain played a support role in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The 692-page indictment filed by investigative magistrate Baltasar Garzon sets the stage for the trial of Syrian-born Spaniards who were arrested in late 2001 after six years of investigation. It was one of the first known indictments of Bin Laden for the Sept. 11 attacks.
The case presented by Garzon on Wednesday brought to light fresh details about the Madrid cell's alleged involvement in terror recruiting, financing and logistical support in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Evidence from the FBI, German police and other agencies included in the indictment cited new connections between the Madrid group and figures in the Hamburg, Germany, cell that plotted the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as Al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and suspects in May suicide bombings in Casablanca, Morocco.
However, the indictments also drew criticism from defense attorneys that the evidence against their clients is weak.
In addition to terrorism charges, Garzon filed murder charges related to the Sept. 11 attacks against 10 of the suspects, including Bin Laden and three people who are jailed in Spain.
Bin Laden previously has been indicted in cases such as the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. If he were to be captured by U.S. authorities, it is unlikely that Spain would get the opportunity to try him ahead of the Americans.
In keeping with Al Qaeda's secretive methods, operatives in Spain supported a plot that was both compartmentalized and global in scope, the indictment says.
While "in the United States the execution was being finalized, in Spain the final details were being taken care of," Garzon wrote. "All directed by Bin Laden and his criminal structure from Afghanistan."
The activities in Spain were designed to support the attacks and help some participants escape, the indictment says.
But the case so far looks stronger when it comes to generalized terrorist activity than to direct involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Despite a dogged investigation, the lengthy document shows that Spanish police have not fully determined what role conspirators in Spain played in the plot.
Police are still trying to reconstruct a four-day gap in the movements of accused plotter Ramzi Binalshibh, now in U.S. custody, and hijacker Mohamed Atta when they met in Spain in July 2001, according to the indictment obtained by The Times.
