LONDON Ñ A group of Lebanese and Syrians have been arrested and accused of having direct links to the Islamic suicide attacks in New York and Washington on Sept. 11.

Spanish authorities in Madrid and Granada have arrested 11 suspects, most of them Lebanese and Syrians. A Spanish judge, Baltasar Garzon, has released three of the 11 but accused eight of direct links with Saudi fugitive Osama Bin Laden and the attacks in the United States.

The alleged leader of the cell was identified as Imad Eddin Barakat, a Syrian national, and accused of being directly linked with Mohammed Ata. Ata was said to have organized and launched the suicide hijackings in the United States.

The London-based Al Hayat daily quoted a Spanish court order that accused Barakat and seven of his alleged associates of funding Al Qaida operations. The order said the eight detainees were trained to launch attacks in Afghanistan and "other places." The order did not elaborate but said the Spanish cell helped Al Qaida operations in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya.

Garzon quoted an intercepted conversation between Barakat, a preacher in a Spanish mosque, and his co-conspirators. "In our lessons, we have entered the field of aviation and we have cut the bird's throat," Garzon quoted Barakat as saying.

The Madrid-based El Pais daily said Barakat was accused of meeting Bin Laden on two occasions.

The United States has pressed Lebanon and Syria to arrest alleged aides of Bin Laden believed to be harboring in the two Arab countries. On Sunday, a U.S. delegation urged the government in Beirut to crack down on the pro-Iranian Hizbullah organization.

"I think it's a good reason not to think of this as just about one man or even just one organization," U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said in Washington. "We really have got to eliminate all of these networks."

Two Syrians and a Lebanese suspects were released because of lack of evidence. Authorities banned them from leaving Spain until the investigation is completed.

European intelligence sources said Bin Laden is believed to have a range of so-called "sleepers" on the continent. These are agents who are activated only under extraordinary circumstances.

In Geneva, U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton has identified five states that produce germ weapons, including Syria, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Libya.

Bolton decided to identify the states in an effort to shame them into ending their germ weapons program, the New York Times said on Monday. "Prior to September 11, some would have avoided this approach. The world has changed, however, and so must our business-as-usual approach."

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