Four accused of Madrid bombing start hunger strike

MADRID, May 10 (Reuters) Four men accused of the train bombings which killed 191 people in Madrid in 2004 have started a hunger strike in protest at what they consider trumped-up charges, one of them said today.

''As of today, we're on hunger strike because we've been charged on the basis of pure guesswork,'' read a handwritten note held up by Hassan El Haski and visible to reporters through the Madrid courtroom's bulletproof glass cubicle for the accused.

El Haski, Rabei Osman el Sayed and Youssef Belhadj have been accused of plotting the attack, while fellow hunger striker Abdelmajid Bouchar is charged with planting explosives in the attacks on four trains carrying morning commuters.

A total of 29 suspects, mostly from North African countries but including nine Spaniards, are on trial at the high security courthouse on the outskirts of Madrid.

Prosecutors believe a group linked to al Qaeda carried out the attack, which took place after Spain sent troops to the Iraq War and triggered the electoral defeat of Spain's then conservative government.

''I have nothing to do with what happened, as I said in my testimony, and I can't bear the injustice any more,'' El Haski said.

Prison authorities could not confirm that the accused had stopped receiving food.

The trial, which has been subject to intense political and media debate in Spain because of a theory championed by conservative media that Basque rebels helped in the attack, began in February and is expected to last several weeks more.

REUTERS AK RAI2111