News, October, 2005

11 September, a day to remember - 11-M trial in the pipeline

While the Catalan people have been celebrating 11th September for years, the rest of Spain now joins in taking this day to remember its almost 200 dead at the hands of international islamic terrorism on 11th March 2004. It also remembers from a greater distance, the dead in the many other related attacks around the globe since even before 11 September 2001, most recently the London bombings.

A number of major reports are contained within these pages on the 3/11 terror attacks on trains in Madrid in which almost 200 workers on commuter trains died and two thousand needed emergency treatment in the city's hospitals. The event not only affected those directly hit, their families and frineds, but caused a landslide victory for the Socialist underdogs in a general election three days later.

18 months on, there remain many questions, especially in the political arena. A parliamentary commission failed to come to any convincing conclusion about what really happened, particularly how and why the government reacted the way it did.

Meanwhile, the wheels of justice grind on slowly. A number of people have been incriminated, several behind bars already for their involvement in the September 11th attacks. But it will not be until 2006 that they are finally brought to trial.