Spain judge charges 29 for Madrid train bombings News
Spain judge charges 29 for Madrid train bombings

[JURIST] A judge in Spain charged 29 individuals Tuesday for their involvement in the March 2004 Madrid train bombings [JURIST news archive]. Judge Juan del Olmo charged five men with all 191 deaths in the bombings and 1,755 attempted murders, while 24 others were charged as accomplices. Over 100 suspects have been arrested throughout the investigation into the 10 simultaneous bombings, which allegedly were carried out by Islamic radicals, and most of those charged are of Moroccan descent. The trial is expected to begin in early 2007 and will last approximately one year. The indictments, 1500 pages in total, are available in four parts: part 1 [PDF], part 2 [PDF], part 3 [PDF], and part 4 [PDF].

A trial began [JURIST report] earlier this year in Italy for suspected Madrid bombings mastermind Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed [CBC profile] who allegedly helped to orchestrate [JURIST report] the Madrid attacks and later sought to recruit more extremists in Milan, Italy. A trial also began [JURIST report] last November for 13 alleged members of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group [CDI profile] who were charged with conspiracy in the 2004 Spain bombings. BBC News has more. From Spain, El Mundo has local coverage.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.