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Agence France-Presse

An alleged member of the terror cell that unleashed carnage in Spain last week admitted to a judge on Tuesday that he and other suspects had planned a bigger attack, a judicial source said.
Mohamed Houli Chemlal, 21, was the first of four surviving suspects to be questioned in Madrid’s National Court, which deals with terror-related cases, over the attacks in Barcelona and a seaside resort that claimed 15 lives and wounded more than 100 people.
The Spaniard was injured in an accidental explosion at a makeshift bomb factory on Wednesday evening that killed an imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, thought to have radicalised him and other young suspects.
Police had previously revealed that the suspected jihadists had been preparing bombs for “one or more attacks in Barcelona”.
Josep Lluis Trapero, head of police in Catalonia, said 120 gas canisters and traces of TATP components – a home-made explosive that is a hallmark of Islamic State that claimed the attacks – had been found at their bomb factory.
The accidental explosion in the house in Alcanar, south of Barcelona, may have forced the suspects to modify their plans.

The questioning of the four suspects caps five days of angst following the vehicle ramming attacks in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils.
Spanish police shot dead Younes Abouyaaqoub, the suspected Barcelona van driver, on Monday in a dramatic end to the manhunt for the Moroccan national, who shouted “God is greatest” when he was killed.
He was the last fugitive member of a 12-man cell suspected of plotting the attacks.
Besides the four men detained, the rest were killed, either by police or in the explosion in Alcanar.
While Catalan police say the cell has been dismantled, investigators are trying to determine if it had logistical or other forms of support from other individuals.
Questions are also arising about the group’s possible international connections.

In Belgium, the mayor of the Vilvorde region told AFP that Satty spent time in the Brussels suburb of Machelen – next to the city’s airport – between January and March 2016.
On the other side of Brussels, the Molenbeek suburb has gained notoriety as a hotbed of international jihadists after the Brussels bombings in March 2016 and the Paris attacks in November 2015.
And in France, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told BFMTV that the Audi used to mow down people in Cambrils had been detected by speed cameras in the Paris region while making “a very rapid return trip” days before the Spanish attacks.
Collomb is due to host Spanish counterpart Juan Ignacio Zoido on Wednesday for talks due to include antiterrorism cooperation.
At least one of the suspects also spent a night in Zurich in December, according to Swiss police, which said it was too early to speculate about any connections with Switzerland.

The four suspects in court included Driss Oukabir, the older brother of Moussa who was killed by police in Cambrils on Friday along with four other suspects.
The others were Mohamed Aallaa, one of three brothers allegedly involved, and Salh El Karib, who manages a store that allows people to make calls abroad.
Chemlal, dressed in hospital patient clothing and with his right hand bandaged, was brought in after a doctor determined that he was fit for interrogation, a court spokesman told AFP.
Veteran magistrate Fernando Andreu is due to determine which charges to file against the four men and what role they may have played in the terror plot.
Spanish police shoot dead suspected van driver in Barcelona terror attack that killed 13
Five days on, a clearer picture is emerging of the events that unfolded last week.
Abouyaaqoub used a vehicle to smash into crowds on Barcelona’s famous Las Ramblas boulevard, killing 13 people and injuring more than 100.
While on the run, the 22-year-old stabbed to death the driver of a car he hijacked to get away.
Several hours later, a similar vehicle attack in Cambrils saw a car run into pedestrians, with one occupant jumping out and stabbing a woman, who later died.
Alleged Barcelona killer was ‘a normal factory worker’ and ‘nicely integrated’, say neighbours
Police shot dead the five attackers there, some of whom were wearing fake explosive belts.
Abouyaaqoub was gunned down on Monday in a village about 60km west of Barcelona, after receiving multiple tip-offs.
Police opened fire as he appeared to be wearing an explosive belt, which turned out to be fake.
The victims of the attacks were from three dozen countries including those as far afield as Australia, China and the United States.


Spain to reform secret services after spying scandal, PM promises

2017 Barcelona attacks: Spain jails three members of jihadist cell for 8 to 53 years

Swiss voters approve tighter gun laws, falling in line with the EU in wake of attacks across the region

In the line of fire: how terrorism links the world in the internet age

Terror attacks in Spain

Spain suspect says terror cell planned bigger attack: judicial source

People stand next to candles and flowers placed on the ground after Thursday's terror attack that left many killed and wounded in Barcelona, Spain. Photo: AP

People stand next to candles and flowers placed on the ground, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, after Thursday's terror attack that left many killed and wounded in Barcelona, Spain. The lone fugitive from the Spanish cell that killed several people in and near Barcelona was shot to death Monday after he flashed what turned out to be a fake suicide belt at two troopers who confronted him in a vineyard just outside the city he terrorized, authorities said. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A policeman hugs a boy and his family that he helped during the terrorist attack, at a memorial to the victims on Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain, Monday Aug. 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

epa06156139 A man wirtes on a condolence book as messages, soft toys and flowers are placed at Blanquerna library in the Catalonian Government headquarters in Madrid, Spain, 22 August 2017, as tribute to the victims of the terrorist attacks in Catalonia. At least 15 people were killed and some 130 others injured after cars crashed into pedestrians on the La Rambla boulevard in Barcelona and on a promenade in the coastal city of Cambrils on 17 August. The so-called 'Islamic State' (IS) claimed responsibility for the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils. EPA/DARWIN CARRION

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