Gardai cannot confirm if Spanish bomb suspect had Irish links

Gardaí have no information to verify recent media reports that one of the men suspected of being behind the Madrid al-Qaeda bomb attacks was arrested when he lived in Ireland in the 1990s, according to the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell.

Reports suggested that one of the men currently detained in Madrid in connection with the atrocity, Moroccan-born Mr Mohamed Bekkali (31), was educated in Ireland in the 1990s, during which time he came to the attention of gardaí and was arrested.

The disclosure led to calls for Mr McDowell and the Garda to reveal what the Irish authorities knew about Mr Bekkali, and if any intelligence on him was ever passed to security authorities in other jurisdictions, particularly in relation to any Islamic extremism.

However, replying to a parliamentary question from Labour's spokesman on justice, Mr Joe Costello TD, Mr McDowell said: "I am informed by the Garda authorities that the Garda Síochána, which is responsible for intelligence on such matters, is not aware of any information that would confirm the assertions made in the newspaper articles in question.

"The Garda Síochána has excellent lines of communication and co-operation with police forces and security services in the European Union, which are used on an ongoing basis and in response to particular events, including the Madrid bombings."

The reports in the Irish media suggested that Mr Bekkali sat his Intermediate and Leaving Certificate exams here and became a prominent figure in the Moroccan community in Dublin. He was arrested with two other Moroccans just two days after the recent bombings in Madrid.