US embassy cable - 04MADRID958

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 000958 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2014 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, SP, Counterterrorism 
SUBJECT: MADRID BOMB ATTACKS: STATUS OF INVESTIGATION - 
MARCH 18 
 
REF: MADRID 893 
 
Classified By: Carol Urban, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, for Reasons 
 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Information from official sources remains limited due 
to the secrecy order issued by the judge presiding over the 
investigation, Judge Juan del Olmo.  LegAtt Office will 
request further information through our mutual legal 
assistance treaty, but receipt of information as a result of 
that request may take 10 days or more.  A major development 
to date has been the receipt by the Legatt's Office of 
fingerprints from the five suspects previously detained (see 
reftel) and latent prints from a van near one of the crime 
scenes that contained detonators.  LegAtt Office has 
transmitted those prints to Washington for review. 
 
2. (U) Press sources report that four more suspects were 
detained on Wednesday night or Thursday morning in connection 
with the investigation.  All four are believed to be of 
Moroccan origin.  One of those suspects is reported to be a 
man also sought by authorities for his involvement in the May 
2003 bombings that killed 33 people in Casablanca. 
 
3. (U) An Algerian man is also in custody to determine if he 
had previous knowledge of the Madrid attacks.  Press sources 
say that the Algerian suspect, Ali AMROUS, had made comments 
to Basque region police during a January altercation that 
terrorist groups would fill the Castellana (a major Madrid 
street) and the Atocha train station with dead.  A total of 
10 suspects are now reported to be in custody. 
 
4. (U) The death toll, as of Thursday, remained at 201.  128 
victims are still hospitalized, with 109 of those being 
listed in serious or very serious condition. 
ARGYROS