Spain jails 11 for attempted Barcelona metro attacks

Spain's high court has jailed 11 men to up to 14-and-a-half years for attempted suicide bombings on Barcelona's metro in 2008, the court said on Monday.

The group, including 10 Pakistanis and one Indian, were very close to developing explosives to be used in the attacks which had been planned for between January 18 and January 20, 2008, according to the ruling, passed December 11.

"(The group) had radical ideologies to the point of following the violent principals of jihad as told by the Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud" the court said.

The two highest jail terms of 14-and-a-half years each for Shaib Iqbal and Qadeer Malik were passed for "belonging to a terrorist organisation and handling explosives."

The other nine members were sentenced to eight-and-a-half years each for "belonging to a terrorist group" but were absolved of any charges related to possession of explosives.