First Madrid Terror Trial Opens

The teenager stands accused of helping to transport the explosives used in the attacks on four commuter trains which killed 191 people and injured a further 1,900.

Because of the age of the accused, who is nicknamed El Gitanillo or little gypsy, the prosecution is calling for eight years detention in a youth center, rather than a jail sentence. During his three-day trial he will be hidden by a screen and will be protected from public exposure with camera crews and photographers banned from the courtroom.

El Gitanillo is one of 19 suspects, the majority of whom are Moroccan nationals, held on suspicion of involvement in the attacks, and warrants have been issued for a further six fugitive suspects.

Seven other suspects, including Algerian Allekema Lamari and Tunisian Serkane Ben Abdelmajid, blew themselves up in a flat in a southern suburb of Madrid on April 3. Spanish police indentified the two men as instrumental in masterminding the attacks.

Dynamite for drugs

Examining magistrate Juan del Olmo, who in all has identified 32 suspects believed to be connected with the blasts, is hoping to complete work on his dossier before the first anniversary of the bombings, judicial sources assert.

Gitanillo was detained on June 16 on the same day as a former miner from the northern region of Asturias. He is believed to have become caught up in a network of drug dealers who, the Spanish authorities say, traded explosives stolen from the mines for drugs, selling the dynamite to the bombers who blew up the trains packed with early morning commuters.

The young suspect is accused of having knowingly helped to transport some 20 kilograms (44 pounds) by bus to Madrid, where he transferred the material to contacts in a bar. Judicial sources say the 16-year-old was paid around €1,000 ($1,200) for his help which he has admitted to investigators.

On the morning of March 11, the bombers placed bags containing the explosives on four trains which they set off via mobile phone within minutes of each other at three packed railway stations -- Atocha, a major interchange in central Madrid, Pozo and Santa Eugenia.

Ample evidence

Spain's former conservative government initially blamed the blasts on Basque separatist group ETA, which was last December caught red-handed plotting to blow up a mainline train. However, evidence swiftly emerged fingering radical Muslims seeking to punish Spain for supporting the US-led war in Iraq.

The evidence included a tape containing verses from the Koran, which was found in a van containing dozens of detonators outside the station from where the deadly trains left. A video containing a claim of responsibility in the name of al Qaeda was discovered later. Three days after the blasts the government lost power as the Socialist Party secured an unexpected general election win.

Many voters turned against the rightwing Popular Party, which had looked set to win the ballot, amid allegations it tried to mislead the electorate by insisting ETA was responsible for an act of terror which brought more than 10 million Spaniards out on the streets in a March 12 show of solidarity.