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Madrid suspects' custody extended

From CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman

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The commuter train bombings killed 191 people in March 2004.

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Madrid (Spain)

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Nine suspects in the Madrid train bombing case will remain in custody beyond the nearly two years they have already served in pre-trial prison, the judge in charge of the investigation has ruled.

The move announced on Monday will keep the nine in prison while the judge, investigating magistrate Juan del Olmo, completes the indictments, which are expected soon.

A trial would follow in the case of the commuter train bombings, which killed 191 people and wounded 1,741 others on March 11, 2004.

Spanish law permits up to two years of pre-trial prison, which can be extended after hearings. Judge Del Olmo held those hearings, separately, for the nine suspects last week in his chambers at the National Court in central Madrid.

The nine were among the first suspects arrested in the case. A total of 116 suspects, many of them Moroccans, have been charged in the case and 24 of these remain in Spanish prisons, including the nine.

Court sources have said perhaps 30 to 40 suspects, out of the total 116, might be indicted.

The nine suspects whose pre-trial prison time was extended on Monday were identified as Jamal Zougam, Basel Ghalyoun, Hamid Ahmidan, Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras, Rafa Zouhier, Fouad El Morabit Amghar, Otman el Gnaout, Abdelilah El Fadual El Akil and Rachid Aglif, a court spokeswoman told CNN.

Authorities have blamed Islamic terrorists for the coordinated bombing attacks against the four trains.

Although authorities say many of the details about the attacks are known -- such as where the explosives were stolen and where the bombs were assembled -- the indictments are expected to reveal more information, including possibly identifying the suspected mastermind behind the attacks.

The second anniversary of the attacks, next Saturday, is expected to receive a more subdued commemoration than last year, when there were numerous high-profile events, government sources told CNN.

The only major events publicly scheduled so far are a memorial concert on Friday in the National Auditorium, which King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia are due to attend, and a city-hall organized wreath-laying ceremony on Saturday at the "Forest of the Absent," in Madrid's Retiro Park. One tree was planted last year in that park in memory of each of the 191 people who died in the coordinated attacks against the four commuter trains.

A CNN correspondent observed from the hallway outside the judge's chambers last Wednesday as some of the most notorious suspects in the case were brought in, handcuffed, for the hearings on their pre-trial prison extensions.

These included Moroccan-born Jamal Zougam, who investigators say is linked to the cell phones used as timer-detonators in the bombs. Zougam looked up briefly at observers but said nothing as he was led into the judge's chambers for a 50-minute hearing. Sources said he again denied involvement in the attacks.

Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras, a Spaniard who is suspected of helping other suspects obtain stolen explosives for the attacks from a mine in northern Spain, also was led in by police. His lawyer later told reporters that Suarez, one of the few Spanish-born suspects charged in the bombings, has suffered from paranoia and schizophrenia and should be released.

Another suspect, Moroccan-born Rafa Zouhier, suspected of involvement in the stolen explosives, said "Good morning to everyone" as he was led into the judge's chambers, and when he walked out, he told observers, "Everything will be fine."

Seven key suspects in the case are dead. They blew themselves up on April 3, 2004, three weeks after the train bombings, as police closed in on their hideout in the Madrid southern suburb of Leganes. A police special operations officer was killed in that blast, which tore a gaping hole in the apartment building, and 18 other police officers were wounded.

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