Spanish Court accused al-Qaida members

Spanish National Court was to issue a verdict Monday in the trial of three suspected al-Qaida members accused of helping plot the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, and of 21 other men facing lesser charges of terrorism and other crimes.

Judge Angela Murillo, part of a three-judge panel at the court that handles terrorism cases in Spain, is expected to read part of a 450-page verdict that will be the culmination of Europe's biggest trial of suspected al-Qaida members.

If convicted each of the three faces sentences of nearly 75,000 years, 25 years for each of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks, as accessories to terrorist murder. Sentencing would also take place Monday.

The other 21 defendants, mainly of Syrian or Moroccan origin, face charges of belonging to a terrorist organization and other offenses, but not of planning Sept. 11. They face sentences ranging from nine to 21 years, informs the AP