Spanish court quashes bomb plot convictions

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Supreme Court has overturned convictions against 15 of the 20 men accused of forming an Islamist group that plotted to blow up Madrid's High Court, court papers showed Tuesday.

The Supreme Court did not detail why it reversed High Court convictions against most of the men for belonging to a terrorist organisation, for which they were jailed for between five and 14 years.

The court upheld the conviction and 14-year jail sentence against the group's leader, Abderrahmane Tahiri, a Moroccan described by the court as "nearly obsessed" with his plan to kill Spanish judges by bombing the court building.

Thirty suspects arrested in October 2004 had been charged with crimes linked to the plot to blow up the court. Most were from Morocco and Algeria.

In March 2004, a separate group of Islamist bombers killed 191 people in attacks on Madrid trains, for which 21 men were jailed. Spanish police have since regularly arrested suspected Islamist militants.

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Writing by Ben Harding; Editing by Janet Lawrence)