A court in Spain has ordered a journalist from the Arabic TV station Al Jazeera to stand trial on charges of belonging to an Al Qaeda cell.
The case against Tayseer Alouni is being prosecuted by Judge Baltasar Garzon who accuses him of providing money and information to the group and recruiting new members.
Al Jazeera has branded Alouni's detention as an attack on press freedom.
Brussels bureau chief Ahmed Kamel described the court's decision "unjust". He said there were forces inside and outside Spain that wanted access to information that Alouni had gathered as a journalist, including information on his interview with Osama bin Laden.
Alouni, who denies the charges, has been refused bail and is being held in jail. The journalist accepted in court that he had invited people to his home in Granada who were later arrested as Al Qaeda suspects.
His lawyer said it was "ridiculous" to deduce from that that Alouni was a member of the organisation. It is thought if and when the trial starts it could last up to four years.
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Taysir Alouni (Al-Jazeera)