Tape Claims al-Qaida Tied to Spain Blasts MADRID, Spain - Spain's interior minister said Sunday a videotape has been discovered claiming al-Qaida carried out the Madrid terrorist attacks, but that he could not verify the veracity of the claim.
Interior Minister Angel Acebes said a man identifying himself as the military spokesman of al-Qaida in Europe claimed the group was responsible for the attacks Thursday that killed 200 people and wounded 1,500.
"We declare our responsibility for what happened in Madrid exactly 2 1/2 years after the attacks on New York and Washington," said the man, according to a government translation of the tape, which was recorded in Arabic. "It is a response to your collaboration with the criminals Bush and his allies."
Speaking at a hastily called post-midnight news conference at the interior ministry, Acebes said authorities could not confirm the claim was genuine. He said the videotape was discovered after an Arabic-speaking man called a Madrid TV station and said where it could be found.
Apparently they are two distinct events. The one I was referring to was a re-translation of a previous message released today.
Your report was a videotape of Bin Laden released today as well.
Now there seems to be a third tape claiming responsibility for the Spain attacks.
Busy day for Al Qaeda's PR section.
Good catch Tex!
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Alleged Bin Laden Message Calls for Jihad Council
Sat Mar 13, 2004 02:23 PM ET
DUBAI (Reuters) - Hitherto unreported parts of a message said to come from Osama bin Laden urge Islamic clerics and leaders to form a council to rally and arm Muslims for holy war against the West, an Islamic Web site reported on Saturday.
Al Jazeera television had in January aired parts of an audio tape that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency said was "likely" from bin Laden, leader of al Qaeda network. The Dirasat Web site carried the full text.
The message said the proposed council should help Muslim fighters obtain light arms, rocket propelled grenades and anti-tank mines.
"Scholars, influential leaders and merchants should meet in a safe place, far from the shadow of the tyrannical (Arab) regimes, and form a council to fill the void created by the toppling of these regimes or by their mental incapacity," the message said.
"Its priorities will be to unite Muslims, defend Islam, prepare for jihad and facilitate movement of weapons," it said, adding that the body could start on a small scale and then grow when circumstances were right.
Like the audio tape, the text urged Muslims to fight U.S. forces occupying Iraq.
"I call on the sons of Islam to isolate their leaders who relied on the unjust and to set up a strong and faithful leadership to defend Islam in these dire times," it said.
"The occupation of Iraq is only a link in the evil Zionist-crusader chain, then comes the occupation of the rest of the Gulf states ahead of enforcing hegemony and control of the whole world," said the message, addressed to the Muslim nation.
Bin Laden is being hunted by the United States for masterminding the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities.
Al Qaeda says the U.S.-led war on terror is a "crusade against Islam."
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle....storyID=4561435