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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Four Madrid bomb convicts cleared | Four Madrid bomb convicts cleared |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Spain's Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of four people found guilty of involvement in the Madrid train bombings in 2004. | Spain's Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of four people found guilty of involvement in the Madrid train bombings in 2004. |
| The four were among 21 people convicted last year over the attacks, which killed 191 people. | The four were among 21 people convicted last year over the attacks, which killed 191 people. |
| The court also upheld the acquittal of an Egyptian suspected of masterminding the attacks, because he had already been convicted of the offence in Italy. | The court also upheld the acquittal of an Egyptian suspected of masterminding the attacks, because he had already been convicted of the offence in Italy. |
| However it convicted and jailed one of those originally found not guilty. | However it convicted and jailed one of those originally found not guilty. |
| Egyptian man Rabei Osman had been cleared of mass murder in the bombings at a trial in Madrid in October. | |
| As he had already been sentenced to eight years in prison in Italy, the court ruled he could not be convicted again for the same crime. | |
| Changing the course of history | |
| The Madrid bombing - in which 10 rucksack bombs tore through four packed commuter trains on 11 March 2004 - was Europe's worst terror attack since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. | |
| Analysts say the attacks changed the course of Spanish politics because in an election three days later voters ditched a conservative government that at first blamed the bombs on the Spanish separatist group Eta. | |
| Spanish investigators say the accused were part of a local Islamist militant group inspired by al-Qaeda, but had no direct links to the terror organisation. | |
| They had acted to avenge the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, said investigators. |