Spanish police Friday detained 12 people in connection with the Madrid train bombings, which killed 191 people on March 11, 2004. The six Moroccans, three Syrians as well as an Algerian, an Egyptian and a Palestinian were held in Madrid. The Interior Ministry said four of the detainees had close links with Youssef Belhadj, a suspected al-Qaeda spokesman who is believed to have claimed responsibility for the attacks on a video discovered near a Madrid mosque. Belhadj was detained in February in Belgium, which extradited him to Spain on Friday. The rest of the detainees had maintained contacts with other suspects in the Madrid bombings. More than 70 people are awaiting trial for Spain's worst terrorist attacks. --SP 2322 Local Time 2022 GMT
