Al Qaeda, ETA suspected in Madrid attacks that kill 192

MADRID – Spanish officials stunned by co-ordinated bomb blasts in Madrid on Thursday that killed 192 people and wounded more than 1 400 said they were keeping their lines of investigation open after clues emerged possibly implicating Islamic or Basque militants.

The carnage, carried out in four trains and three railway stations in the southeast of the capital in morning rush-hour, was one of the worst terror attacks ever in Europe, surpassed only by the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people. Spanish authorities, who initially blamed the Basque separatist group ETA, said they had found a stolen van containing detonators and an audio tape with Koranic verses in Arabic in Madrid after the blasts.At the same time, a London-based Arabic newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, issued a statement it said it had received from al Qaeda claiming responsibility.The atrocity, which Spanish media and officials described as “our own September 11″, came just three days before general elections that the ruling conservative Popular Party was widely expected to win.Three days of national mourning have been declared.”A nightmare has struck showing terrorism’s cruel face,” Spanish King Juan Carlos said in a televised address to the people after visiting survivors in one of the city’s hospitals.”Your king is suffering with all of you and shares your indignation.”The blasts occurred on trains and in railway stations packed with commuters, many of whom had to be cut free by emergency workers.Bodies were hauled away to a makeshift morgue set up in a requisitioned exhibition centre.”The coach behind mine was packed with bodies.Some people were burnt in their seats,” said one passenger who survived, Antonio Villacanas.”There were people like me going to school.It was a strange sensation.I can’t explain the feeling, dead people all around,” said one student at Atocha station.In Madrid and many other Spanish cities and towns, people took to central squares to hold protests against terrorism.Larger rallies were planned for late Friday.Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, known for his hardline stance against ETA, and for his unflinching support for the US war and occupation of Iraq in the face of widespread public opposition and a threat from al Qaeda, vowed retribution.”We will not back down in the face of terrorist killings.The perpetrators will be tried and convicted,” he said hours after the attacks.The outgoing premier, who was retiring from politics, did not announce the elections would be cancelled, although campaigning has been cut short out of respect for the victims.Although Aznar did not specify any suspects, his interior minister, Angel Acebes, initially did.Immediately after the blasts, Acebes said there was “no doubt” ETA was responsible.The Basque militant group has been blamed for the deaths of more than 800 people in its 36-year violent campaign for an independent northern homeland.But later Thursday Acebes held a media conference to say that a van stolen from a town east of Madrid, where the four trains blown apart had originated from, had been found in the capital with the audio tape in Arabic and seven detonators inside.Describing the find as “a new clue”, he said the focus of the investigation “remains ETA, but we must be very cautious and investigate other leads.”He said the verses in Arabic were those “usually used to teach the Koran,” and that they “did not contain any threat”.Acebes left open the possibility that the tape might have been planted to mislead authorities.He also noted that the explosive used was dynamite — a preferred materiel for ETA.As he was speaking, Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper issued a statement it said it had received from al Qaeda in which the organisation — held responsible for the September 11 2001 attacks in the United States — claimed the Madrid blasts.The attack “was a part of the settling of old scores with crusader Spain, America’s ally in its war against Islam”, said the statement, a copy of which was sent to AFP by the newspaper.”Where is America, O Aznar? Who is going to protect you, Britain, Japan, Italy and other collaborators from us?” the statement added.The tone recalled that employed in an audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden and aired by Al-Jazeera television on October 18 in which the al Qaeda leader threatened attacks against Spain, Britain, Australia, Poland, Japan and Italy.The statement also claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a masonic lodge in Istanbul two days earlier, and for the killing of 19 Italian soldiers and civilians in southern Iraq last November.It threatened attacks on US targets in Yemen.The claims could not be independently verified.Al-Quds Al-Arabi has previously relayed several claims by al Qaeda.The leader of a political party close to ETA, Arnaldo Otegi, denied that the Basque group was involved, saying “Arab resistance” was to blame because of Spain’s role in supporting the US-led occupation of Iraq.Hundreds of Spanish troops are in the country reinforcing the US presence.The head of the European police organisation Europol, Juergen Storbeck, also cast doubt on ETA’s involvement, telling reporters in Rome that the bombings were not preceded by a warning, as in previous ETA attacks.”It’s still not clear who the perpetrators are,” he said.- Nampa-AFPSpanish authorities, who initially blamed the Basque separatist group ETA, said they had found a stolen van containing detonators and an audio tape with Koranic verses in Arabic in Madrid after the blasts.At the same time, a London-based Arabic newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, issued a statement it said it had received from al Qaeda claiming responsibility.The atrocity, which Spanish media and officials described as “our own September 11″, came just three days before general elections that the ruling conservative Popular Party was widely expected to win.Three days of national mourning have been declared.”A nightmare has struck showing terrorism’s cruel face,” Spanish King Juan Carlos said in a televised address to the people after visiting survivors in one of the city’s hospitals.”Your king is suffering with all of you and shares your indignation.”The blasts occurred on trains and in railway stations packed with commuters, many of whom had to be cut free by emergency workers.Bodies were hauled away to a makeshift morgue set up in a requisitioned exhibition centre.”The coach behind mine was packed with bodies.Some people were burnt in their seats,” said one passenger who survived, Antonio Villacanas.”There were people like me going to school.It was a strange sensation.I can’t explain the feeling, dead people all around,” said one student at Atocha station.In Madrid and many other Spanish cities and towns, people took to central squares to hold protests against terrorism.Larger rallies were planned for late Friday.Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, known for his hardline stance against ETA, and for his unflinching support for the US war and occupation of Iraq in the face of widespread public opposition and a threat from al Qaeda, vowed retribution.”We will not back down in the face of terrorist killings.The perpetrators will be tried and convicted,” he said hours after the attacks.The outgoing premier, who was retiring from politics, did not announce the elections would be cancelled, although campaigning has been cut short out of respect for the victims.Although Aznar did not specify any suspects, his interior minister, Angel Acebes, initially did.Immediately after the blasts, Acebes said there was “no doubt” ETA was responsible.The Basque militant group has been blamed for the deaths of more than 800 people in its 36-year violent campaign for an independent northern homeland.But later Thursday Acebes held a media conference to say that a van stolen from a town east of Madrid, where the four trains blown apart had originated from, had been found in the capital with the audio tape in Arabic and seven detonators inside.Describing the find as “a new clue”, he said the focus of the investigation “remains ETA, but we must be very cautious and investigate other leads.”He said the verses in Arabic were those “usually used to teach the Koran,” and that they “did not contain any threat”.Acebes left open the possibility that the tape might have been planted to mislead authorities.He also noted that the explosive used was dynamite — a preferred materiel for ETA.As he was speaking, Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper issued a statement it said it had received from al Qaeda in which the organisation — held responsible for the September 11 2001 attacks in the United States — claimed the Madrid blasts.The attack “was a part of the settling of old scores with crusader Spain, America’s ally in its war against Islam”, said the statement, a copy of which was sent to AFP by the newspaper.”Where is America, O Aznar? Who is going to protect you, Britain, Japan, Italy and other collaborators from us?” the statement added.The tone recalled that employed in an audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden and aired by Al-Jazeera television on October 18 in which the al Qaeda leader threatened attacks against Spain, Britain, Australia, Poland, Japan and Italy.The statement also claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a masonic lodge in Istanbul two days earlier, and for the killing of 19 Italian soldiers and civilians in southern Iraq last November.It threatened attacks on US targets in Yemen.The claims could not be independently verified.Al-Quds Al-Arabi has previously relayed several claims by al Qaeda.The leader of a political party close to ETA, Arnaldo Otegi, denied that the Basque group was involved, saying “Arab resistance” was to blame because of Spain’s role in supporting the US-led occupation of Iraq.Hundreds of Spanish troops are in the country reinforcing the US presence.The head of the European police organisation Europol, Juergen Storbeck, also cast doubt on ETA’s involvement, telling reporters in Rome that the bombings were not preceded by a warning, as in previous ETA attacks.”It’s still not clear who the perpetrators are,” he said.- Nampa-AFP