SPAIN: Spanish police yesterday arrested an Algerian and Syrian suspected of involvement in the March 11th train bombings, the latest of more than 50 arrests linked to the attacks that killed 191 people.
Both had been arrested previously - less than two weeks after the attacks - but were let go at the time for lack of evidence. They were rearrested yesterday after new fingerprint evidence surfaced, an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said.
Their nationalities are potentially significant because most of the Arab suspects held to date have been of Moroccan origin.
Fingerprints of the two were found on a book retrieved from the debris of a suicide bombing when seven suspects blew up their apartment rather than surrender to police on April 3rd, she said.
The fingerprints of one suspect were also found on a car parked near the railway station where police believe the bombers boarded the trains, she said. That car was found next to a van which was believed to have been used to transport the explosives.
Of the people arrested, 25 have been formally accused by the court. The rest have been set free.
In the attacks, three days before Spain's general election, 10 bombs exploded on four packed commuter trains. Analysts believe the attacks helped swing the vote to the Socialist Party.