A Tunisian man wanted as a ringleader in the Madrid train bombings began agitating for "jihad" (holy war) in Madrid in mid-2003 if not earlier, according to arrest warrants released on Thursday.
The Tunisian, Serhane ben Abdelmajid Farkhet, 35, was identified by the warrants as the "personal leader and co-ordinator" of those implicated in the March 11 attack, which killed 191 people three days before Spain's general election.
The other five named in the warrants are Moroccan, including one man traced to an al Qaeda meeting in Istanbul in 2000, two brothers of the only woman jailed in the case, and a man who rented the house used to prepare the bombs.
Farkhet "not only was the energising force for the awareness campaign for the jihad ... but also with specific intent (since the middle of 2003 at least) for the preparation of a violent act in Spain, specifically in the Madrid area," said the warrants issued by the lead investigator, Judge Juan del Olmo.
By mid-2003, US-led forces had occupied Iraq and toppled President Saddam Hussein. A purported al Qaeda spokesman claiming responsibility for the Madrid rail bombings said they were revenge for Spain's firm support of the war.
Farkhet, also known as "The Tunisian" and also spelled Fakhet by the Interior Ministry, becomes the first person from that North African country suspected in the case.
So far the investigation has focused on suspects from Morocco, just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain and the home country to most of the 19 suspects under arrest.
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