LYON, France -- INTERPOL, acting on a request from the Spanish authorities, has issued international wanted persons notices for six suspects in the Madrid train bombing investigation.
The INTERPOL Red Notices were transmitted to police in all of the organization's 181 member countries on Thursday evening, April 1, just hours after national arrest warrants were signed by a Spanish judge for the six men, two of whom were identified as Moroccan nationals, one Tunisian national and three whose nationality is not confirmed.
The suspects are Jamal Ahmidan, Abdennabi Kounjaa, Mohamed Oulad Akcha, Rachid Oulad Akcha, Serhane Ben Abdelmajid and Said Berraj.
INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble welcomed the request from Spain, saying the Red Notices would make it far more difficult for the suspects to travel outside Spanish territory.
'As always in such cases, the wider the net is cast for fugitives, the more chance there is that they will be apprehended as they try to cross an international border or are stopped by police in any of INTERPOL member countries,' Mr Noble said. 'With terrorism an ever-increasing threat, efficient co-operation between the world's police is essential, and INTERPOL is uniquely placed to move crucial information around the globe using its I-24/7 electronic communication system.'
A European arrest warrant for the six suspects in the Madrid bombing has also been issued, however the INTERPOL Red Notices will be seen by police not only in Europe but in all of the organization's member countries.
The legal basis for a Red Notice is the arrest warrant or court order issued by the judicial authorities in the country concerned and therefore serves the purposes of both police and judicial officials.
Many of the INTERPOL's member countries consider a Red Notice a valid request for provisional arrest, especially when a country is linked to the requesting country via a bilateral extradition treaty or an extradition convention.