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To: TexKat
Otegi told Radio Popular in San Sebastian that ETA always phones in warnings before it attacks. Acebes said there was no warning before Thursday's attack.

Then maybe it wasn't Basque separatists.(?)Who else does it sound like?

3,972 posted on 03/11/2004 6:55:29 AM PST by Indie (The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.")
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To: Indie
In October, two audiotapes purportedly from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden said the militant group had the "right to respond at any suitable time and place" against those countries with forces in Iraq. Spain was among the countries listed.

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=833651&tw=wn_wire_story
3,974 posted on 03/11/2004 7:24:13 AM PST by Velveeta
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To: Indie
Indie according to CNN and to other media outlets the Spanish government are blaming the Basque.

It did bring to mind the threat to France's rail system that was in the news recently.

European Leaders Condemn Spain Bombing

By ROBERT BARR, Associated Press Writer

LONDON - European leaders condemned Thursday's bombings that killed scores of Madrid commuters as an attack on Spanish democracy.

Spanish officials blamed the Basque separatist group ETA, but the leader of an outlawed Basque party denied the organization was involved.

"It is an outrageous, unjustified and unjustifiable attack on the Spanish people and Spanish democracy," European Parliament President Pat Cox said in the legislature in Strasbourg, France.

"There is a general election due in Spain on Sunday. What happened today is a declaration of war on democracy," he said.

"Let Sunday show that Spanish democracy is determined to overcome terrorism," Cox said.

European Commission President Romano Prodi called the attacks "ferocious and senseless"

"This is not a political act, it is criminal act against defenseless people ... a perverse act of terrorists," Prodi said.

In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who holds the EU presidency, said the "timing of the bombings was clearly designed to wreak the greatest level of havoc ... and cannot be justified by any political cause."

"This terrible attack underlines the threat that we all continue to face from terrorism in many countries and why we all must work together internationally to safeguard our peoples against such attacks, and defeat terrorism," British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) said.

President Bush called Aznar to express solidarity and sympathy, condemning "this vicious attack of terrorism in the strongest possible terms," National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Aznar supported Bush in the war against Iraq despite opposition in Spain.

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi denounced the "abominable violence that wounds every principle of civil existence" but said they would reinforce Europe's commitment to unite to combat terrorism.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer expressed his horror.

"These despicable terror acts that have claimed so many victims fill us with deep sadness and outrage," Fischer said in Berlin.

In Copenhagen, the Danish government "expressed its deepest sympathy to the victims, their families and to the people of Spain," said Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, who added "his condemnation of such acts of terror."

French President Jacques Chirac wrote to Spanish Premier Jose Maria Aznar, condemning these "terrible attacks against Madrid's rail network that have plunged Spain into mourning."

"In these horrifying circumstances, I extend in my name and in the name of the French people, my most sincere condolences," Chirac wrote.

Pope John Paul II called the attacks "abominable."

"The Holy Father reiterates his firm and absolute disapproval of such actions that offend God, violate the fundamental right to life and undermine peaceful coexistence," said the message sent from the Vatican to Spanish Church authorities.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer condemned "this mindless act of cruelty and barbarism."

Chilean President Ricardo Lagos said he was "shocked" by the bombings.

"This is an attack on people who work, on young people going to school to study, an attack on all human beings that has no justification whatsoever," Lagos said.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed condolences to the families of the victims in a message conveyed Japan's Embassy in Madrid.

Armed Group ETA Seeks Basque Independence

France Tightens Spain Border Security

3,981 posted on 03/11/2004 7:53:30 AM PST by TexKat (Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)
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To: Indie
CNN reporting that some of the sticks of dynamite have been recovered from the bomb site and has been determined that the dynamite could be dynamite that the ETA stole from France 3 years ago.
3,986 posted on 03/11/2004 8:04:27 AM PST by TexKat (Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)
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