173 People Killed in Madrid Explosions
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| Thu, 03-11-2004 - 9:17am |
Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said there were indications the armed Basque separatist group ETA was to blame. "Right now we have to wait until we have an official statement. We don't have this official statement, so we just can say there are some hints and indications that point toward ETA," Palacio told the BBC. Earlier, other politicians and media widely blamed ETA.
A top Basque politician denied the separatists responsibility and blamed "Arab resistance." Many al-Qaida linked terrorists were captured in, or believed to have operated out of, Spain. Arnold Otegi, leader of Batasuna, an outlawed Basque party linked to the armed separatist group, denied it was behind the blasts and suggested "Arab resistance" elements were responsible, suggesting al-Qaida.
Otegi told Radio Popular in San Sebastian that ETA always phones in warnings before it attacks. The interior minister said there was no warning before Thursday's attack. "The modus operandi, the high number of victims and the way it was carried out make me think, and I have a hypothesis in mind, that yes it may have been an operative cell from the Arab resistance," Otegi said. Otegi noted that Spain's government backed the Iraq war.
More at http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=518&e=1&u=/ap/20040311/ap_on_re_eu/spain_explosion

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Very sad! Those poor people. Aweful!!!
Thank you for posting.
When I read this, first thing this AM, I thought it was strange that this happened in Spain. France has been receiving threats about explosives on railway lines.
£2.8m railway ransom.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/03/04/wrail04.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/03/04/ixworld.html
A terrorist group is blackmailing the French government, threatening to explode 10 bombs it says are already planted beneath railway lines throughout France unless it receives a £2.8 million ransom.
The group, which calls itself AZF after a chemical factory that exploded in Toulouse in September 2001 killing 31 people, has been in contact with the interior ministry since December when it sent its first letter.
As a demonstration of intent, on Feb 21 the group directed the police to a bomb it says it hid beneath a railway line near Limoges. The police found a sophisticated timer and enough explosive to derail a train.
For several weeks, investigators and AZF have been swapping messages through letters, telephone calls, even the personals column of a newspaper.
On Monday night, the government sent a helicopter carrying the ransom to an airfield near Montargis, south of Paris. The terrorists said they would mark the spot where they wanted the money to be left with a white tarpaulin. The police said they could not find the marker in the dark.
The inquiry into AZF has been turned over to France's leading anti-terrorist judge, Jean-Louis Brugiere.
Update: Alleged al-Qaeda letter claims responsibility for Madrid bombings.
http://cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/11/madrid040311
MADRID - A London-based Arabic newspaper says it received an e-mail on Thursday from an al-Qaeda-linked group claiming responsibility for the series of deadly bombs that ripped across a train line in Madrid, killing at least 190 people.
The newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi said the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri claimed its "death squad" had penetrated "one of the pillars of the crusade alliance, Spain."
"This is part of settling old accounts with Spain, the crusader, and America's ally in its war against Islam," the unverified claim said.
Referring to Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, the statement asked: "Aznar, where is America? Who will protect you, Britain, Japan, Italy and others from us?"
The claim comes as police investigating the bombings say they found a van with detonators and an Arabic-language tape with Qur'anic verses in a nearby town.
Spain's Interior Minister Angel Acebes said the van, found in Alcala de Henares, contained seven detonators and the tape.
More than 1,200 were injured in the bombings during the Thursday morning rush hour.
"Because of this, I have just given instructions to the security forces not to rule out any line of investigation," Acebes said.
Government officials had initially blamed ETA for the attack, which came just days before elections scheduled for Sunday.
"This is mass murder," said Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. "No negotiation is possible or desirable with these assassins who so many times have sown death all around Spain."
The bombs began going off at about 7:50 a.m. along a 15 kilometre stretch of rail line between Santa Eugenia and Atocha.
Ten of them went off within 10 minutes. Police found three other bombs which hadn't exploded.
A Basque politician denied that separatists had set off the bombs. Arnold Otegi suggested that "Arab resistance" could have planned the attack in revenge for Spain's support for the invasion of Iraq.
Otegi also noted that ETA had not issued a warning prior to the attacks, a hallmark of other ETA bombings.
World leaders reacted with outrage at the carnage in Madrid.
"The United States stands resolutely with Spain in the fight against terrorism in all its forms," said American Secretary of State Colin Powell.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called the bombings a "disgusting assault on the very principle of European democracy."
My heart goes out to the victim's families.
This is creepy these attacks happened on the 11th but in March.
ETA has been around for years and so far has been impossible to stop them. For those who dont know ETA Group are self-financed. They finance themselves thru robbers, thieves and kidnappers who commit dfferent crimes in Spain.
One of the solutions could be Spain giving the part the belongs to the country give it away to the Vasque people and let them be independent but on one condition, that no country on the world, help them, export or import products, visit the town, etc let them deal of how they are going to support themselves without the help of any country.
How horrible of what happened today!! Dead people scattered on the rail tracks.
Unbelievable that another terrorist attack strike today!
Spain Holds Mass Anti-Terrorism Rally.
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=2ABED8B9-FE11-4A9E-BC617F4A13AB2E94
Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards have staged an anti-terrorism rally in Madrid, as the death toll from Thursday's bombings continued to rise.
A seven-month-old baby died Friday, bringing the toll to 199.
Earlier, people across Spain stopped for a moment of silence and, in Washington, President Bush took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Spanish ambassador's residence. He said the United States stands firmly with Spain against terrorism.
Earlier, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said investigators will pursue every lead in the hunt for those responsible for the devastating loss of life. He also pledged that Spain will share all information it gathers about the bombings, which killed people from 11 countries.
Little information has come out so far, but one radio station quoted security services Friday as saying an unexploded bomb found near one railroad station had a detonator not like those used in the past terrorist attacks by the Basque separatist movement ETA. Initially, authorities blamed ETA for the attacks, and Friday, ETA again denied any responsibility. Officials are also considering a possible role by the al-Qaida terrorism network. The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, affiliated with al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for the blasts. Al-Qaida earlier had named Spain as a target because of its strong support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
Other European countries tightened transportation security as many of their leaders went to Madrid to join the anti-terrorism rally Friday evening.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer are among those attending. Elsewhere, millions of Spaniards were expected to take part in parallel ceremonies.
Three days of mourning are in effect, and the final days of campaigning for Spain's national elections have been suspended. But the government says voting will take place Sunday as scheduled.
Thursday's blasts came exactly two-and-one-half years after the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
The ironic thing, is that most people are saying that this is a direct result of Aznar agreeing to support the US in rebuilding efforts in Iraq. The Spanish people as a whole really opposed the idea...
The world is such a horrible place to live in these days...
I just keep looking at those railway cars...
IMO that could well have been the case. Any update on that?
Hello,
I agree with most of what you say.
However.....re the possible solution you support (?) : <<"One of the solutions could be Spain giving the part the belongs to the country give it away to the Vasque people and let them be independent but on one condition, that no country on the world, help them, export or import products, visit the town, etc let them deal of how they are going to support themselves without the help of any country.">> .....For the Basque Provinces to be independent, it would take part of Spain and part of France to be "complete". Also, keep in mind that the vást majority of the Basque Provinces (while striving to be independent)
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