Posted on 03/11/2004 2:37:48 PM PST by Smogger
A group claiming to be acting in the name of al Qaeda says it was behind today's devastating Madrid train bombings, which killed at least 192 people.
An email to the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper said the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri was responsible for the worst terrorist attack on a European city since the second world war.
It also warned that a "big attack" on the US was "90% ready".
"The death squad (of the Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades) succeeded in penetrating the crusader European depths and striking one of the pillars of the crusader alliance - Spain - with a painful blow," the email said.
"We bring the good news to Muslims of the world that the expected 'Winds of Black Death' strike against America is now in its final stage...90 percent (ready) and God willing near," the letter said.
Bari Atwan, the newspaper's editor, told Sky News he was certain the claim was authentic.
Al-Masri, Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, was killed in the battle of Tora Bora during the war in Afghanistan.
The claim comes after investigators found an Arabic language tape with Koranic versus in a van carrying bomb detonators near Madrid.
The letter and the discovery of the van may throw into doubt the Spanish government's claim that the Basque separatist group Eta - rather than al Qaeda - was behind the multiple bombings, which also injured1,200 people.
"Because of this, I have just given instructions to the security forces not to rule out any line of investigation," Angel Acebes said.
But he stressed Eta was the main suspect.
Ten bombs went off this morning in a devastating wave of attacks on trains passing three different railway stations at the height of the Madrid's rush-hour.
Thousands of Spaniards held a huge silent protest in Bilbao this evening at the heart of Eta country.
The government said the bombs were probably set off by remote control at 4-5 minute intervals starting at 6.30am GMT.
Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar declared three days of mourning and told the nation the attacks were "mass murder".
"We will not back down in the face of terrorist killings," he said. "The perpetrators will be tried and convicted. We are targeting the total, complete and unconditional defeat of terrorism."
"We will succeed in finishing off the terrorist band," he added, employing the term used by the government to refer to Eta, but not naming it.
Mr Aznar vowed to go ahead with a scheduled general election on Sunday, although political parties have suspended campaigning.
US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned the attacks, saying they underlined the need for international co-operation to fight global terror.
A total of 13 bombs were planted around the capital to target morning rush-hour rail commuters.
Three went off at the main Atocha station in central Madrid and four near to the station. Smaller stations were also hit - one bomb at Santa Eugenia and two at Pozo. Three further bombs were destroyed by authorities in controlled explosions.
The Spanish government said the bombs were made of a form of dynamite previously used by Eta.
Earlier, the leader of Eta's banned political wing Batasuna blamed the blasts on "Arab resistance". Arnaldo Otegi said he "refused to believe" Eta was responsible.
The scale of the attack, absence of a phone warning and lack of any claim of responsibility prompted speculation that Islamic terror group al Qaida was responsible.
In an audiotape released in the Arab world in October, a voice purported to be Osama bin Laden threatened nations that are helping the American occupation of Iraq.
"We reserve the right to respond at the appropriate time and place against all the countries participating in this unjust war, particularly Britain, Spain, Australia, Poland, Japan and Italy," the voice said.
Eta's worst previous atrocity killed 21 people in a bomb attack on a Barcelona supermarket in 1987.
Doesn't sound like it.
From smh.com.au
Al-Qaeda linked to Madrid train bombings
March 12, 2004
The Arabic newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi said today it had received a claim of responsibility for the Madrid train bombings issued by The Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri in the name of al-Qaeda.
The claim received by email at the paper's London offices said the brigade's "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 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 newspaper faxed the claim to The Associated Press office in Cairo.
The message referred to last year's attack on Italian paramilitary police serving in the US-led coalition in Iraq.
"When we attacked the Italian troops in Nassiriyah and sent you and America's agents an ultimatum to withdraw from the anti-Islam alliance, you did not understand the message. Now we have made it clear and hope that this time you will understand." the statement said.
"We, at the Abu Hafs brigades, have not felt sad for the so-called civilians," the statement said in an apparent reference to the hundreds of casualties in today's attacks in Madrid.
"Is it OK for you to kill our children, women, old people and youth in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir? And is it forbidden to us to kill yours?" the claim asked.
Meanwhile, Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes said a tape with Koranic verses in Arabic and seven detonators were found in a van suspected of being linked to the deadly bomb attacks.
The minister said the government did not exclude the possibility that Islamic terrorists carried out Thursday's bomb attacks.
The van, which had been reported stolen, was discovered in the east of the capital, Acebes told a media conference.
The government, however, still regarded the Basque separatist group ETA as the main suspect, Acebes said. Meanwhile, a statement attributed to al-Qaeda and sent to the London-based daily Al-Quda Al-Arabi claimed responsibility for the bombings and a suicide attack on a masonic lodge in Istanbul two days earlier.
The claim could not be independently verified.
But it's much larger than anything ETA's done before.
But it's much larger than anything ETA's done before.
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