Switzerland extradited to Spain on Friday the suspected leader of a Muslim cell that Spanish officials say planned to blow up Spain's High Court with a truck bomb. Moroccan-born Mohamed Achraf was flown from Zurich to Madrid escorted by three Spanish police officers, the Swiss federal office of justice in Berne said in a statement. Switzerland's highest court rejected Achraf's appeal against extradition earlier this month. In Madrid, Achraf appeared before High Court Judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska who ordered him jailed on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organisation, faking documents and attempted murder in connection with the plot to bomb the court, Europa Press news agency reported. He refused to reply to the prosecutor's questions, it said. Court officials could not immediately be reached for comment. --More 0048 Alleged September 11 conspirator Moussaoui pleads guilty Washington Spain says Achraf, 31, led a group called "Martyrs for Morocco" that planned to detonate a truck loaded with 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives near Spain's High Court. High Court judges are leading a series of probes into Islamic militants, including the Madrid train bombings in March 2004 that killed 191 people. Achraf was flown to Spain as Europe's biggest trial of al Qaeda suspects got under way in Madrid. Twenty-four people are on trial, including three accused of mass murder for allegedly helping the plotters of the 2001 attacks on U.S. cities. Achraf was arrested in Switzerland in September 2004, accused of stealing mobile phones and being in the country illegally, Spanish police said. They said Moroccan authorities believed Achraf's real identity might be Abderrahmane Tahiri, who was expelled from France in 1995. More than 30 people were arrested late last year as part of Judge Baltasar Garzon's investigation of the alleged plot to blow up the High Court and other major Madrid landmarks. --SP 2337 Local Time 2037 GMT
