(BREAKING) ARABIC TAPE AND DETONATORS FOUND IN VAN IN MADRID - SPANISH MINISTER

Reuters ^ | 11 march, 2004 | Skynews

[Eurotwit]

Sky News just reported that a Spanish minister has just announced that an arabic tape (?) and detontator where found in a van in Madrid.

[cripplecreek]

I see France has decided to raise their terror alert level. I assume that means they're ripping sheets into flag sized pieces as we speak.

[LN2Campy]

"Matamoros" is a not uncommon name in old Spain - the Islamicists will regret this one...

[areafiftyone]

ROFLMAO - or they are making lots of stinky cheese!!

[hershey]

Hmm this makes the BBC's afternoon focus group's bashing Basques moot. They'll have to regroup and get some 'experts' in to talk about the 'religion of peace' and how Spain is mean to them...plus, it's all Bush's fault.

[Fury]

Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Socratic]

"Ah, the Basques are the remnants of the Arabs from 5 Centuries ago."

Astute comment!

[KQQL]

Spain/spanish folks were forced to convert to Islam few centuries ago ....then of course the Muslims were kicked out and almost all converted back to Christianity..

So, this could be a muslim revenge

[wjcsux]

There must be something wrong here. John Kerry told us that terrorism isn't much of a threat.

[HAL9000]

Spain says Arabic-language tape found in rail blast probe

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Police probing the Madrid terrorist attacks found a van with detonators and an Arabic-language tape with Koranic verses, and officials don't rule out any line of investigation, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.

The van was found in the town of Alcala de Henares outside Madrid following a tip from neighbors. On the front seat police found seven detonators and the tape, Acebes told a news conference.

"Because of this, I have just given instructions to the security forces not to rule out any line of investigation," Acebes said.

He said the armed Basque group ETA remained the "main line of investigation" in the blasts that killed at least 190 people.

But with the van find "all kinds of lines investigation open up," Acebes said.

Three of the four trains bombed Thursday originated in Alcala de Henares and one passed through it, the state rail company RENFE said.

Arnoldo Otegi, leader of an outlawed Basque party linked to ETA, said earlier Thursday that he did not think ETA was behind the blasts, and he suggested "Arab resistance" elements were involved.

Spain backed the Iraq war.

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.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press, All rights reserve

[EDINVA]

what a shock!

[Coop]

Thanks for the ping. I'm on overload right now. So many stories to follow, and I've got a ton of studying to do for classes I'm taking.

Go study. Me 'n Dawg have got the con. ;-)

[nobody_knows]

please see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1095592/posts

[KQQL]

#

[Tree of Liberty]

They found explosive devices in the van of a suspect. The van also included koranic text.

Basque representatives denied their involvement since they say they always send a warning before they blow something up.

[BushMeister]

Q17. Are the Basques genetically different from other Europeans?

A17. Apparently, yes. It has long been known that the Basques have the highest proportion of rhesus-negative blood in Europe (25%), and one of the highest percentages of type-O blood (55%). Recently, however, the geneticist Luiga Luca Cavalli-Sforza has completed a gene map of the peoples of Europe, and he finds the Basques to be strikingly different from their neighbors. The genetic boundary between Basques and non-Basques is very sharp on the Spanish side. On the French side, the boundary is more diffuse: it shades off gradually toward the Garonne in the north. These findings are entirely in agreement with what we know of the history of the language.

Q18. Does this mean the Basques are directly descended from the earliest known human inhabitants of Europe, the Cro-Magnon people who occupied western Europe around 35,000 years ago?

A18. Nobody knows. This is possible, but we have no real evidence either way. The only evidence we have is negative: the archeologists can find no evidence for any sudden change in population in the area for thousands of years before the arrival of the Celts and later the Romans in the first millennium BC.

[Fury]

Not only that, he gave the orders.../throwing bone to the DUers lurking on this thread.

Excuse me, but it was Rush's fault...

[thackney]

I thought they were going to "strike at the heart of the great satan?".

Turns out the "great satan" strikes back. I guess they are going after "satans" with smaller sticks.

[Pyro7480]

From the original attack thread: "Per that article, a group calling themselves Lions of al-Mufridoon, a previously unknown group, is taking credit for the bombings. They may be associated with al-Qaeda."

[AmishDude]

Ah, the Basques are the remnants of the Arabs from 5 Centuries ago.

Really? Pais Vasco seems to be too far north for that. Plus, if they're not Muslim, it doesn't much matter geopolitically. I'm still leaning to a marriage of conveniece here between ETA and alQ.

[July 4th]

John Kerry told us that terrorism isn't much of a threat.

Just wait. Now he can say that America's war on terrorism has forced the terrorists to find other targets. "Oh, look at how we've destroyed Europe."