Arab newspapers and diplomatic observers said Sunday that they feared the Madrid bombings will lead to more European discrimination against Arabs if Al Qaeda's claim of responsibility for the attacks is borne out. Reuters has more. Spanish Muslims are particularly concerned about a backlash, according to IslamOnline. Muslims make up only a tiny proportion of Spain's population, which is about 94% Catholic; a Moorish Muslim kingdom with centers at Cordoba and Granada prospered in the south of the country for some 700 years in the Middle Ages until King Ferdinand of Castile united Spain under Christian rule in 1492, forcing the remaining Muslims to convert or leave.

US Attorney General John Ashcroft was released from hospital Sunday five days after undergoing surgery to remove his gallbladder. A Justice Department spokesman said he would take some time resting at home before returning to official duties. Read a Department of Justice press release. AP has more.

Here's our Sunday top-ten list of the most interesting and important primary sources - rulings, reports, press conferences, indictments, websites and more - relating to major legal news stories of the of the past week, together with associated coverage on JURIST's Paper Chase...

#10 - Legal opinion on same-sex marriages in Oregon [PDF]

Friday March 12, from Oregon Attorney General Hardy Mills. Read related coverage from JURIST's Paper Chase here.

#9 - Special Court for Sierra Leone

Wednesday, March 10, from the newly-opened UN war crimes tribunal for the Sierra Leone conflict. Read related coverage on JURIST's Paper Chase here.

#8 - "Enduring Freedom": Abuses by US Forces in Afghanistan

Monday, March 8 from Human Rights Watch. Read related coverage on JURIST's Paper Chase here.

#7 - Crawford v. Texas [PDF] and Iowa v. Tovar [PDF]

Monday, March 8, from the US Supreme Court. Read related coverage on JURIST's Paper Chase here.

#6 - Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act of 2004 [PDF]

Wednesday, March 10, from the US House of Representatives. Read related coverage on JURIST's Paper Chase here.

#5 - Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive

Tuesday, March 9, from the European Parliament. Read related coverage on JURIST's Paper Chase here.

#4 - Announcement of Internet industry lawsuits against spammers

Wednesday, March 10, from Microsoft, AOL, Earthlink and Yahoo. Read related coverage on JURIST's Paper Chase here.

#3 - Court orders directing halt to San Francisco gay marriages pending full legal review

Thursday, March 11, from the California Supreme Court. Read related coverage on JURIST's Paper Chase here.

#2 - Condemnation of Madrid bombing attacks as "crimes against humanity"

Friday, March 10, from Amnesty International. Read related coverage on JURIST's Paper Chase here.

#1 - Transitional Administrative Law [Iraqi interim constitution]

Monday, March 8, from the Iraqi Governing Council and the Coalition Provisional Authority. Read related coverage on JURIST's Paper Chase here.

Please join us again next Sunday for a new round of legal links of the week.

Germany called Sunday for an urgent meeting of European security and interior minister in the wake of a claim by al Qaeda that it was responisble for the devastating attacks on Madrid train stations Thursday. Reuters has more

The Chinese National People's Congress Sunday officially enshrined private property protection in the Chinese constitution by approving an amendment declaring "legal private property is not to be encroached upon." This is fourth amendment to the Chinese Constitution since 1949, and is described by diplomatic observers as a "sea-change in the ruling Communist Party's thinking." The Press Trust of India has more from Beijing.

On March 14, 1964, nightclub owner Jack Ruby was convicted of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, who had presumably assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Ruby was sentenced to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Ruby's conviction in October 1966 and ordered a new trial citing improperly admitted testimony and an improper venue in the original proceeding, but Ruby died before the second trial could be convened. Review a transcript of Jack Ruby's July 1964 testimony before the Warren Commission investigated the assassination of President Kennedy. The Assistant Counsel for the Commission doing some of the questioning reported on the transcript is Arlen Spector, now a US Senator for Pennsylvania.