Spain pursues Moroccan link

Spanish police yesterday hunted Moroccan Muslim militants suspected of links to bombs that killed 201 people on Madrid trains and propelled the opposition Socialists into power at a general election.

Police were looking for five fugitive Moroccans, part of a group of eight main Moroccan suspects, local media said.

Three are already in custody in connection with Spain's worst attack and the first suspected al Qaeda-linked strike in the West since the September 11 attacks on the United States.

But investigators cautioned against drawing any conclusions from evidence gathered so far. The inquiry "is in its infancy. We have a long way to go," one law enforcement official said.

Spanish police, experienced with Basque separatist attacks, are considered expert at bomb analysis but have sought foreign help for what has become a complex international investigation.

Police from across Europe are to convene in Madrid in the coming days to share information, and Spain and Morocco have already sent investigative teams to each other's countries.

Meanwhile US investigators are assisting Spain with fingerprint and background checks on suspects.

One of the three detained Moroccans has been named as Jamal Zougam. Police sources told Reuters bomb survivors had identified him from photographs as having been on board one of the trains but they were treating witness reports cautiously.

Court sources said the bombers are believed to have left the country. However, police sources said no international arrest warrants had been issued.

Investigators were also examining the remains of one of the dead from Thursday's train blasts as a potential bomber, although Spain has ruled out suicide attacks.

The Moroccan line of investigation emerged at the weekend when police arrested five suspects, the three Moroccans and two Indians, in the only arrests so far.

El Pais newspaper said Zougam had connections with some of those arrested for last May's bombings in Casablanca that killed 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers.

But in Rabat, Moroccan authorities said no direct links had been established between the railway bombings and attacks in Casablanca last year.

Friends of Zougam in Madrid described him as a "modern Muslim" who liked to wear high-end labels.