A Spanish al-Qaeda suspect transferred from Guantanamo Bay has been sentenced to six years in prison by a Madrid court.

Thirty-one-year-old Hamed Abderrahman Ahmad, who comes from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in Morocco, denies any link with Bin Laden’s network.

The judges ruled that he had joined the organisation fully aware of its terrorist character.

Ahmad was captured in Pakistan in October 2001, handed over to US authorities and interned for two years at the American military base at Guantanamo Bay, where some 500 men are being held without charge.

Psychiatrists say he is suffering from post-traumatic stress as a result of his detention there.

PHOTO CAPTION

Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed seen in this Tuesday July 13, 2004 file photograph. (AP)