US embassy cable - 05MADRID2223

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MADRID 002223 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO EUR/WE 
L/LEI 
S/CT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, SP, Counterterrorism 
SUBJECT: SPAIN: YARKAS TERRORIST TRIAL UPDATE 
 
REF: MADRID 01584 
 
Classified By: Classified by Political Counselor Kathy Fitzpatrick for 
reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: On April 22, judge Javier Gomez Bermudez of 
the Spanish National Court initiated trial proceedings 
against 24 defendants, mostly Syrian-born residents of Spain, 
accused of belonging to a radical Islamic terrorist cell 
linked to al-Qa'ida (Reftel).  Three defendants, the main one 
being alleged al-Qa'ida financier Barakat Yarkas, were also 
charged with murder in connection with the September 11 
attacks in the U.S.  This trial is not directly linked to the 
March 11, 2004, attacks in Madrid.  Prosecutors are seeking 
prison sentences of over 62,000 years in each of their cases, 
a symbolic punishment since under Spanish law they can only 
serve a maximum of 30 years.  The defendants have adopted a 
simple strategy of denying the charges against them and 
claiming that their previous statements were extracted under 
duress. 
 
2. (C) The main government witness, police investigator Gomez 
Menor, provided substantial details linking some of the 
defendants to al-Qa'ida activities in Spain and abroad, 
including recorded conversations, financial records, and 
items seized from the defendants' residences (weapons, 
diagrams, written correspondence, videos and photos).  While 
prosecutors are confident that they will win convictions 
against some of the defendants on charges of belonging to a 
terrorist organization, they acknowledge that the evidence in 
support of the most serious charges appears weak and 
circumstantial.  The judge has released eight of the 
defendants on bail since the start of the trial, indicating 
his skepticism of the charges against them.  This message is 
intended as a broad overview of the progress of the trial to 
supplement the daily trial updates provided by e-mail to the 
Department and USDOJ.  END SUMMARY 
 
3. (U) On April 22, Spanish judge Javier Gomez Bermudez 
opened the trial of 24 defendants accused of belonging to a 
radical Islamic terrorist cell linked to al-Qa'ida (Reftel). 
Three of the defendants (Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, Ghasoub 
Al Abrash Ghayoun and Driss Chebli) are accused of having 
connections to the September 11 attacks in the United States. 
 Prosecutors have charged these three defendants with murder 
and are seeking sentences of over 62,000 years for each (a 
symbolic figure since the maximum sentence in Spain is 30 
years).  The majority of the defendants face charges of 
"membership in a terrorist organization," which carries a 
nine-year prison sentence.  The trial was originally 
scheduled to last eight weeks, but at its current pace may 
last significantly longer. 
 
//DENY, DENY, DENY// 
 
4. (SBU) The defendants appear to have adopted a simple 
strategy - denying any involvement in terrorist activity and 
claiming that any incriminating statements they made during 
the investigative phase were extracted under duress. 
 
5. (U) Much of the questioning by the three-judge panel led 
by Gomez Bermudez has focused on foreign trips and alleged 
recruitment activity by the defendants, the defendants' 
possession of firearms, photographs and materials seized in 
their apartments that seemed to link the defendants to 
jihadist activities, and suspicious financial transactions. 
 
6. (U) During the initial round of questioning, each of the 
defendants steadfastly denied any involvement in al-Qa'ida 
recruiting efforts.  Defendants claimed that travel to 
Indonesia, Bosnia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen 
was for business or personal reasons and unconnected to 
terrorist activity. 
 
7. (U) Several of the defendants also claimed that weapons 
found in their residences were non-functional and/or 
decorative in nature. The defendants said that photos of 
themselves in mujahidin garb were traditional photos taken as 
souvenirs.  Several defendants explained away questionable 
financial transactions as an Arab custom of borrowing or 
loaning money within their community.  Many defendants 
claimed that they couldn't remember specific dates or details 
in response to the questioning.  All of the defendants 
claimed that they knew the other defendants through normal 
social contacts, not membership in radical associations. 
 
8. (U) Defendant Taysir Alony's testimony was of particular 
interest for trial observers since he was the only defendant 
who had had personal contact with Osama Bin Laden.  Alony, an 
Al Jazeera reporter, stated that he was able to interview Bin 
Laden only after "Bin Laden's people" contacted him, as Al 
Jazeera was the only news organization in Afghanistan in the 
period immediately following the September 11 attacks.  Alony 
said that he was blindfolded and driven to the interview 
site, where he was allowed to only ask approved questions, 
and that did not have any further contact with Bin Laden.  In 
addition, Alony denied attending a terrorist training camp in 
Afghanistan, stating that he only visited one military camp 
in his capacity as a reporter, upon invitation from the 
Taliban government.  Alony acknowledged transferring several 
thousand dollars to a jihadist fighter, but claimed he 
believed he was just giving the fighter money from a relative. 
 
9. (SBU) Barakat Yarkas' testimony was characterized by 
denial of any involvement in terrorist activity and claims of 
an inability to remember details of conversations, trips and 
financial transactions. 
 
10. (U) The prosecutor questioned Yarkas in regard to his 
relationships with Abdelkader Hassan Abuj (reportedly 
associated with Hamas), London-based radical cleric Abu 
Qutada, and senior al-Qa'ida operatives Mustafa Setmarian, 
Mohammad Atta, Ramzi Binalshibh, Abu Zubaida, Mohamed 
Bahaiah, and Jayed Zaman.  In all cases, Yarkas stated that 
he knew them "socially", from either his mosque or through 
mutual friends, and that he had no knowledge of their alleged 
involvement in terrorist activity. 
 
11. (U) In regard to his conversations with a suspected 
terrorist known as "Shakur" (see paragraph 9), Yarkas stated 
that Shakur was a "friend of a friend" whom Yarkas' brother 
had helped with an immigration issue. 
 
12. (U) Yarkas further claimed that he didn't know what 
Shakur was talking about during the conversations leading up 
to September 11.  Finally, Yarkas stated that the various 
financial transactions presented by the prosecution were 
characteristic of Arab society and that he could not remember 
the specifics details of the deals. 
 
13. (U) On June 8, a witness, whose identity was protected, 
testified that he saw Barakat Yarkas, Mohammed Atta and Ramzi 
Binalshibh together on the Barcelona metro one morning in 
early June 2001.  The witness testified that he noticed the 
three because they were wearing identical black leather 
jackets, despite the hot weather at that time of the year. 
He further stated that he didn't think anything of it at the 
time, until he saw photographs of the individuals in the 
press.  The court showed the witness a number of photographs 
and the witness correctly stated that Atta was not among 
those pictured.  The witness then accurately identified 
Yarkas and Binalshibh in three pictures.  According to the 
press, Yarkas broke down in tears after the testimony by the 
protected witness and the presiding judge entered the secured 
area to comfort Yarkas. 
 
//DEFENDANTS ALLEGE COERCION BY JUDGE GARZON// 
 
14. (C) Defendants Kamal Hadid Chaar and Abdulla Khayata 
Katan asserted that Investigating Magistrate Baltasar Garzon, 
who led the GOS investigation of the Barakat Yarkas cell, had 
coerced them into making false confessions of involvement in 
terrorist activity.  Embassy personnel who attended the trial 
observed that tape recordings of the defendants' statements 
had frequent unexplained gaps and that the officials 
conducting the interrogation often did not note the start and 
stop times of each recording.  In conversations with Embassy 
staff, prosecutors privately expressed frustration with 
Garzon's preparation of the case.  In particular, the poor 
quality of the recordings left the defense attorneys a 
credible opening to claim they had been forced to make 
self-incriminating statements and to allege that Garzon had 
selectively tape recorded their comments. 
 
//AN 11-YEAR INVESTIGATION INTO BARAKAT YARKAS// 
 
15. (U) The trial's first prosecution witness, police 
investigator Rafael Gomez Menor, began testifying in the case 
on May 17.  Gomez, the lead investigator for the case, 
testified that the investigation began in 1994, when the 
Spanish police received a tip about a group called "Soldiers 
of Allah", which was distributing radical literature in a 
Madrid area mosque in support of mujahidin recruitment. 
Gomez outlined the alleged ties of various defendants to 
al-Qa'ida figures, recruitment and fundraising activities, as 
well as trips taken by various cell members to wage jihad in 
Bosnia, Lebanon, Chechnya, Indonesia and Afghanistan. The 
majority of the evidence submitted to support Gomez's 
testimony consisted of recorded conversations, weapons seized 
in the defendants' homes, written and electronic 
correspondence, financial records and other items seized in 
searches. 
16. (U) Of note, in Gomez' testimony, a number of telephone 
calls allegedly connect defendant Yarkas with major al-Qa'ida 
and radical Islamic figures in many different countries, to 
include, among others, al-Qa'ida figures: Abu Zubaidah, Abu 
Qutada, Jaled Fawat, Omar Mahmud Ohman, Abu Walid and Jamil 
Abdulatif Albana.  Specific telephone calls identified by the 
witness outline alleged contact between Yarkas and members of 
Tunisian, Algerian, Moroccan, Libyan and Bosnian Islamic 
combat groups. 
 
17. (U) In addition, a search of the residence of another key 
cell member, Amer Azizi (not in custody), resulted in the 
discovery of an e-mail address (SAFAR86@usa.net) identified 
as belonging to an unidentified person living in the U.S. who 
facilitated travel for Al Qaeda members and was in direct 
contact with Abu Zubaida and Khalid Sheik Mohamed, the 
organizer of the 9-11 attacks. 
 
18. (U) Gomez outlined various defendants' alleged 
involvement in the founding of a terrorist training camp in 
Indonesia, which included trips to the region, financial 
transactions to facilitate travel and recorded telephone 
conversations during which gunfire was heard in the 
background and statements were made about the ease of 
obtaining identification documents. 
 
19. (U) Gomez testified in regard to three defendants' 
specific connections to 9/11.  The first defendant, Barakat 
Yarkas, reportedly received telephonic updates from a 
September 11 conspirator called "Shakur" (whose real identity 
may be Farhid Hilali) to discuss the progress of the group's 
preparations for the attack.  Gomez cited several phone 
calls, received by Yarkas during August and September of 
2001, in which Shakur made statements such as "we have 
entered the field of aviation" and advising Yarkas that "the 
bird's neck" would soon be cut. 
 
20. (U) Shakur reportedly stated that the group was taking 
very good classes and would need approximately one month to 
complete its work. 
 
21. (U) Prosecutors describe these conversations as evidence 
that Yarkas knew significant details of planning for the 9/11 
attacks and was therefore a co-conspirator.  This is the 
foundation of the murder charges against him. 
 
22. (U) In addition to the telephone calls, Yarkas' phone 
number was found among the effects of Mamoun Darkanzali, a 
member of the Atta cell in Germany.  Gomez also stated that 
Yarkas facilitated the formation of the Atta group by 
introducing various cell members to each other. 
 
23. (U)  Gomez also testified regarding his investigation of 
the other two defendants facing murder charges.  He said 
Driss Chebli had close ties to Mohamed Atta's cell in 
Hamburg, Germany, to include providing assistance to Mohamed 
Belfatmi and Ramzi Binalshibh. 
 
24. (U) Regarding the third defendant, Ghasoub Al Abrash 
Ghayoun, prosecutors assert that he was linked to the attacks 
by a videotape that he made during a trip to the U.S.  Gomez 
displayed Ghayoun's videotape, which contained images of 
airplanes in hangars and of the support structures of the 
Golden Gate Bridge.  In one segment of the video, Ghayoun is 
heard commenting that if a particular pillar were to come 
down, the whole bridge would collapse. 
 
25. (U) Ghayoun also filmed the World Trade Center (WTC) from 
the roof of one of the towers and made other videos of the 
towers from different vantage points.  In earlier testimony, 
Ghayoun claimed that the video was made at the request of 
architect friend, a claim that the architect has consistently 
denied.  Despite the suspicious nature of the video, Gomez 
acknowledged that there was no evidence that the video filmed 
by Ghayoun was ever transmitted to al-Qa'ida. 
 
//EIGHT DEFENDANTS RELEASED FROM DETENTION// 
 
26. (C) The apparent circumstantial nature of the evidence 
collected by the Spanish authorities has proven a significant 
challenge for the prosecutors.  A total of eight defendants 
have been released, six on bail and two for health reasons, 
after the judge determined that they did not pose a flight 
risk.  This implies that the judge does not believe that the 
defendants in question will be convicted of serious charges. 
All of the released defendants must report to the police on a 
daily basis and appear in court for the trial. 
 
27. (U) Defendant Taysir Alony Kate, the Al- Jazeera 
reporter, was released before the trial due to a medical 
condition.  A second defendant, Jamal Hussein Hussein, was 
released on the second day of trial, also due to a medical 
condition.  The third defendant, Ghasoub Al Abrash Ghayoun, 
was released on May 23rd on EUR 50,000 ($65,000) bail 
following a judicial review of the videotape in evidence, 
which was the basis of the murder charge against him. 
 
28. (U) The judge released five additional defendants 
(Boudjlela, Al Saqqa, Satut, Waheed Kelani and Ahmad Kelani) 
on June 1st, stating that the risk of absconding was 
"considerably reduced" for those five individuals. 
 
//PROSECUTORS CONFIDENT LESSER CHARGES WILL STICK// 
 
29. (C) In the early stages of the trial, lead prosecutor 
Pedro Rubira expressed confidence to Embassy officers that he 
would be able to win convictions of most of the defendants, 
at least on the less serious charge of "membership in a 
terrorist organization" (with a jail term of up to nine 
years).  Rubira said it was his sense that, in the wake of 
the March 11 attacks, the judges would be loathe to acquit 
defendants when the weight of the evidence pointed to their 
involvement in a broad conspiracy to recruit fighters for the 
international jihad. 
 
//COMMENT// 
 
30. (C) Rubira may be correct with respect to the lesser 
charges, but media sources speculate that it seems unlikely 
that Yarkas or any other defendant will be convicted on 
murder charges related to the 9/11 attacks.  The evidence 
that Yarkas had foreknowledge or contributed to the attacks 
is apparently seen by the judges as too tenuous.  The judges 
also appear skeptical of the overall strength of the 
prosecution's case, commenting at one point that police 
witnesses were using small portions of recorded conversations 
as evidence and that these were being presented out of 
context.  Both the prosecutors and the judges are aware that 
the Yarkas trial is being followed closely by other EU 
countries and that it represents a test of whether European 
justice systems can respond effectively to the international 
terrorist threat. 
 
31. (U) Note: Post based the spelling of various Arabic names 
on the "best guess" of embassy personnel present at the trial 
and open source articles appearing in the press.  All 
spellings may not be correct and different variations may be 
present in USG databases. End Note. 
 
MANZANARES