Posted on 03/11/2004 8:52:10 PM PST by Anti-Bubba182
The group which has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Madrid is believed to be affiliated to al-Qaeda.
The Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri has also said it was behind a spate of explosions in Turkey late last year which left dozens dead in less than seven days.
Suicide bombers in Istanbul killed 62 people during attacks on two synagogues on November 15 and two other simultaneous explosions at the British consulate and the HSBC bank five days later.
The death toll includes the four suicide bombers.
Consul-General Roger Short and his assistant, Lisa Hallworth, were killed when an explosive-laden pick-up truck rammed into the main gate of the consulate.
At the time the brigade issued a statement saying it had struck "to let Britain and the Brits know that their alliance with America will only bring them economic ruin and death to their sons".
It claimed to have assassinated Mr Short, who it described as the "mastermind of the British policy in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran because of his extensive experience in ... combating Islam".
Since the attacks Turkish authorities have arrested and charged a Turk, alleged to have links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, who reportedly recruited suicide bombers and prepared the truck bombs that were behind the attacks.
The Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri takes it name from the nom de guerre - Abu Hafs - of al-Qaeda's former military commander who was killed by a US air strike in Afghanistan in November 2001.
The group is believed to be affiliated to the al-Qaeda network.
Terrorist experts believe it could be behind the atrocities in Spain - rather than ETA - as it follows the pattern of other al-Qaeda attacks.
Mike Yardley, a psychologist and historian of terrorism, said the al-Qaeda method of attack was unexpected, low-tech and with the aim of inflicting mass casualties.
He added: "The scale of the attacks fits al-Qaeda. You've lots of bombs on packed trains, so you've got a concentration of people and the attack will inflict the maximum possible number of casualties.
"It was also a relatively sophisticated attack and well co-ordinated."
He said: "In the past the (terrorists') idea was kill one, frighten 10,000, now the aim of launching an attack is not just to inflict psychological damage but the primary means of making war, particularly if you are weak and your enemy is strong."
If Abdul will pray, to a smoking crater.
On second thought, I don't want to see it.
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