Met arrest Madrid bomb suspect

A Spanish national suspected of playing a key role in the Madrid train bombings was being held in Slough last night, just 24-hours after police in Spain arrested his brother on terror charges.

A Spanish national suspected of playing a key role in the Madrid train bombings was being held in Slough last night, just 24-hours after police in Spain arrested his brother on terror charges.

Officers of the Metropolitan Police anti-terror branch and the extradition unit moved to apprehend Moutaz Almallah Dabas yesterday morning. The 39-year-old is wanted by Spanish authorities in connection with the attacks that claimed 191 lives in March last year.

Scotland Yard said Mr Dabas, a Spanish national, was arrested in Slough on a European extradition warrant issued by Spain "for alleged terrorist offences, in particular involvement in the Madrid bombings".

Spanish police describe Mr Dabas as having had "a significant or leading position" in indoctrination meetings of Islamists in Madrid whose purpose was to recruit youngsters for the holy war and dispatch them for operations outside Spain.

The move came following Friday's arrest of a Syrian national, Mohannad Almallah Dabas, at his home in the Spanish capital. Spanish police and media reports identified the men as brothers.

On 11 March last year, 10 bombs ripped through four packed morning commuter trains, three days before the Spanish general election, injuring more than 1,500 commuters. Mohannad was detained in the aftermath of the bombings but then freed. The attacks were blamed on al-Qa'ida-linked groups.

Moutaz owned a flat in Madrid, said to have been used for recruitment meetings. It was situated near the city's main mosque. A computer disk was found in the flat containing sketches of New York's Central Station, which police believe was a possible terrorist target for those who carried out the Madrid bombings.

The arrest warrant issued by Spanish police under which Moutaz was detained yesterday charged him with "recruitment of radical Islamist youngsters in Spain to send them abroad".

Spanish officials claim the pair were close to Serhane ben Abdelmajid Farkhet, known as "The Tunisian", widely seen as the leader of the Madrid plot.