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Madrid - Morocco has asked Spain to give it temporary custody of a Moroccan convicted in 2007 of involvement in the March 2004 Madrid train bombings so that it can try him for the 2003 Casablanca bombings, a court source said.

The request was made to Spain's National Audience, the country's top anti-terrorism court, which in October 2007 sentenced Hassan Al Haski to 15 years in jail for belonging to a terrorist group that carried out the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people, the source said.

Spain's Supreme Court in July reduced his sentence to 14 years.

Morocco considers Al Haski one of founders of the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group, which has links to al-Qaeda, that is blamed for the May 2003 Casablanca attacks that killed 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers.

In 2006 Spanish authorities agreed to extradite Al Haski to Morocco but that cannot happen while he is in jail in Spain.

Al Haski is still under investigation in Spain by top anti-terrorism judge, Baltasar Garzon, who is heading a separate inquiry into the Casablanca bombings which targeted Spanish interests in the city. - Sapa-AFP

Published on the Web by IOL on 2008-08-13 14:23:40

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Originally from: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=85&art_id=nw20080813142340641C870746