MADRID, April 12 (UPI) -- Spanish police Tuesday arrested a Moroccan man who allegedly took part in last year's Madrid train blast, which killed nearly 200 people and injured 1,500.
Authorities said they believed Soufiane Raifak was involved in buying the explosives that detonated on the Madrid subway March 11, 2004. He was reportedly already in Spanish custody on separate charges of entering the country illegally, El Pais reported in its online edition.
The attacks were attributed to a group linked with al-Qaida and came just days before the nation's elections.
The socialist candidate Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero -- who was trailing well behind in the polls before the attack -- pledged to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq if elected, which he did just months later.
Since then Spain has arrested numerous suspects some of whom were later released due to lack of evidence.
