The suspected leader of al-Qaeda in Spain denied today that he knew September 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta or helped set up a planning meeting between Atta and another suspect in the 2001 attacks on US cities.
Investigators believe Atta, thought to have flown one of the planes into the World Trade Center, and Ramzi bin al-Shaibah, suspected coordinator of the September 11 attacks, met in Spain in the summer of 2001 to plan the attacks.
"I have read that, but I have never known these guys nor have I ever been with him (Atta). Neither Atta nor Ramzi," Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas told Spain's High Court under questioning from prosecutors.
Barakat Yarkas, a Syrian born in 1963 who went to Spain nearly 20 years ago, is the prime suspect in the trial of 24 men accused of belonging to al-Qaeda and is one of three charged with mass murder over the attacks on New York and Washington.
Prosecutors allege he helped set up the summer 2001 meeting in Tarragona, northeastern Spain, which they say was also attended by Syrian Mohamed Belfatmi.
Bin al-Shaibah is in US custody, while Belfatmi, one of 17 other suspects including al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who are wanted in the Spanish case, remains at large.
Prosecutor Pedro Rubira asked Barakat Yarkas if he organised the meeting, mentioning Atta and bin al-Shaibah.
"No, sir, and I don't know those people," Barakat Yarkas replied on the second day of the trial, expected to last months.
Barakat Yarkas, dressed in a sport coat and blue jeans, put up a spirited defence, saying his wiretapped phone conversations were misinterpreted and his relations with other suspects were innocent friendships or casual acquaintances made through business or at the mosque.
He denied that he founded the "Soldiers of Allah", a radical Islamist group that prosecutors say was the precursor to al-Qaeda's branch in Spain.