Madrid, April 26 (Reuters): The suspected leader of al Qaida in Spain condemned the September 11 attacks, the Madrid train bombings and all acts of terrorism at his trial today, calling them a violation of Islam.

Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas is the prime suspect in the trial of 24 men accused of belonging to al Qaida and is one of three charged with mass murder over the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. ?I deny it (terrorism) and I vigorously reject it in front of the whole world... I am not saying it to defend myself or anything. I say it because I feel it,? said Barakat Yarkas.

?I was never happy about it (September 11)... They were completely wrong because Islam does not allow it,? he said. Barakat Yarkas said he had never heard of al Qaida before his arrest in November 2001 even though police seized from his home a book, several magazines and a newspaper clipping about Osama bin Laden.