MADRID - The man presumed to have headed a Spanish-based Al-Qaeda cell knew of preparations being made for the September 11 attacks in the United States, an investigator said Wednesday as he presented evidence to Spain's trial of 24 suspected members of the extremist group.
According to police commissioner Rafael Gomez Menor, an expert on Islamic radical groups, Syrian national Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, alias "Abou Dahdah", had been informed the attacks were imminent by suspected Al-Qaeda member Farid Hilali, alias "Shakur", in a phone call two weeks beforehand.
In the police-monitored conversation "Shakur", speaking from the UK, told "Abou Dahdah": "We have entered the field of aviation" and "we have cut the bird's throat".
The prosecution maintains that the references were code to say that a team of suicide pilots were ready to attack the United States.
Some translations have suggested "eagle" rather than "bird," as a metaphor to signify the United States.
"Shakur" is one of 35 people, including Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, who Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon charged in September 2003 for alleged Al-Qaeda membership and, in some case, for implication in the September 11 attacks.
05/18/2005 13:08 GMT