THE LEADER of the Spanish cell of al-Qaeda, who was recently on trial in Madrid for his role in the 9/11 attack (sentence pending) was beaten by fellow inmates:

The suspected leader of al Qaeda in Spain, accused of aiding the September 11 hijackers, was beaten by a group of prison inmates on Friday and had to be taken to hospital, a prisons spokeswoman said.

Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, also known as Abu Dahdah, is awaiting a verdict after being tried for "terrorist murder" for allegedly helping the hijackers plan the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

If convicted he could be sentenced to up to 74,000 years in jail.

"He was attacked while he was eating breakfast. They started by insulting him. Prison guards warned him to get out but the group jumped him immediately," the spokeswoman said. "The injuries do not appear serious."

Can't help wondering what was this guy doing in the same prison area with all other inmates; one would expect him to be in some kind of special area, precisely to prevent being attacked for being a mass murderer (besides 9/11, he's believed to have had some role in March 11, though he's waiting for trial on that); it's well known that prisoners like to offer a "special welcome" to convicts for especially hideous crimes.

So the incident may have been pure incompetence of prison authorities. Of course, it could also be a way to get him killed, to shut him up, though I guess there would be more effective methods for that.

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