Spain attack suspect was detained right after 9/11

In the weeks after 9/11, Spanish authorities briefly detained Jamal Zougam, a key suspect arrested in the Madrid train bombings, after electronic surveillance revealed his contacts to known Al Qaeda operatives, a Spanish counter-terrorism official confirmed on Tuesday.

The Moroccan-born suspect was rounded up in the fall of 2001 in a ‘‘sweep’’ of suspects authorities knew from wire taps, surveillance, and interrogations to be in contact with Al Qaeda operatives, said the official, on condition of anonymity. Zougam was arrested while eating at a Moroccan restaurant, and his apartment was searched. He was released days later when Judge Baltasar Garzon, an investigative magistrate at the helm of Spain’s counter-terrorism efforts, was unable to establish a case against him.

The Spanish official who spoke about Zougam’s previous brush with police said the intelligence failure surrounding Thursday’s attack was ‘‘extremely worrying’’. Police in San Sebastian, a Basque city, said they detained an Algerian who allegedly spoke of a terrorist attack in Madrid two months before it happened. Ali Amrous was picked up Monday for questioning by authorities. He was previously arrested in January after a neighbourhood disturbance, during which he allegedly told police: ‘‘We will fill Madrid with the dead.’’ —(NYT)