Spain launches the trial of 24 suspected accomplices to the 11 September 2001 attacks, Serene Assir reports The largest trial procedure to take place in Europe in connection with the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon has begun. The trial is being held in a new building prepared by the Spanish government to house precisely this kind of hearing. Security is tight, with testimonies being read out in bullet-proof chambers, at least 100 policemen guarding the area around the clock and a helicopter circling overhead. Other "macrotrials" that are slated to be held on the new premises are those linked with the 11 March 2003 attacks in Madrid and ETA. Among the defendants are Syrian-born Imad Yarkas (alias Abu Dahdah), presumed head of the Al-Qaeda cell in Spain, and Driss Chebli, both accused of having set up a meeting in June 2001 which was attended by Mohamed Atta, who piloted one of the planes used in the attacks on the Twin Towers. The prosecution is seeking a sentence of at least 60,000 years in prison for both Yarkas and Chebli -- 25 years for the death of each person in New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. The sentence is the longest sought by the Spanish state in history. Among those present at the start of the trial proceedings was Pilar Manjon, president of the 11 March Association for those Affected by Terrorism. "We have come... to try and understand what can make someone choose between life and death," she said. "We probably won't find the answer here, but we want to see the faces of those who have ruined our lives." All the defendants are included in a 41-member list of key suspects -- which also includes Osama Bin Laden -- drawn up in November 2001 by the Spanish anti-terrorist judge Baltasar Garzon. Spanish law, however, does not allow for suspects to undergo trial in absentia. Garzon believes that Al-Qaeda's cell in Spain was key in the planning and execution of the 11 September 2001 attacks, and that the final stages of preparation were carried out there. All but one of the suspects -- Jose Luis Galan, a convert to Islam also known as Ghassub Al-Abrash Ghaylun, and the first to testify to the court -- are of Arab origin. And all but Al-Jazeera journalist Taysir Allouni are being held prisoner for the duration of the trial. For health reasons, the reporter, accused of channelling money to Al-Qaeda head Bin Laden during his trips to Afghanistan, was granted temporary bail under house arrest on the condition that he reports every day to the police station nearest to his home. Accused of filming the Twin Towers in order to assist in the planning of the attacks, Galan, like all other defendants, has denied all charges. The prosecution is seeking that he be imprisoned for 18 years. "I condemn the murder of one person, never mind that of 3,000," he told the court. "The Muslims want to live in peace -- we are not terrorists. Islam condemns the shedding of innocent blood." He added he is neither for nor against Bin Laden, and confessed that he was, in his youth, addicted to various drugs, including heroin. Galan denied the charge of having participated in an Al-Qaeda-run camp in Indonesia. He supported his claim by saying that considering his relatively advanced age and given the poor condition of his injured knee, he is not fit to undergo any kind of hard physical activity of the kind required in a military camp. He did, however, admit to have been present in a town 10 kilometres away from the area where the supposed training was held. During the hearing, photographs were shown of Galan participating in demonstrations in Madrid protesting over violence against Palestinians and Chechens and the 11 September 2001 attacks themselves. He told the court that he rejects all violence, whether against "the United States, Gaza or Grozny". Next to testify, according to the trial schedule, was Abu Dahdah, who is accused of leading the Al-Qaeda-linked cell known as the "Soldiers of God". Abu Dahdah presumably took over the leadership of the cell when its founder, known as Sheikh Salah, left Spain and went to Pakistan in 1995, allegedly on Bin Laden's orders. Initial hearings are expected to continue until the first weeks of the summer.
