Posted on 03/11/2004 12:35:28 PM PST by technomage
AP News Alert
03/11 2:29p CST CAIRO, Egypt (AP)
A London-based Arabic newspaper says it has received claim of responsibility for the Madrid train bombings issued in the name of al-Qaida.
Nope. I expect France and Germany to announce anytime time now that it's all Bush's fault and this would not have happened if Kerry was President.
OUCH!
What a perfect way to put it.
The Bush campaign needs to make ads.
OUCH!
What a perfect way to put it.
The Bush campaign needs you to make their ads.
Many of the dead and injured were Muslims, especially Moroccans.
Let's see if the moderate Muslims in Spain speak out against al-Qaeda terrorists.
Mar 11, 3:34 PM ESTSpain: Van, Detonators, Quran Tapes Found
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Police found a van Thursday with detonators and an Arabic-language audio tape with Quranic verses and officials investigating the Madrid bombings that killed 192 people said they weren't ruling out anything, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.Meanwhile, a London-based Arabic newspaper, Al-Quds al-Arabi, said 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-Qaida.
The van, found in Alcala de Henares, 15 miles outside Madrid, was stolen from the city Feb. 28. 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.
The armed Basque group ETA remained the "main line of investigation" in the blasts, he said. With the van find "all kinds of lines investigation open up," Acebes said.
Acebes said the death toll from the Thursday rush hour bombings had risen to 192.
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 political party linked to ETA, said earlier Thursday that he did not think ETA was behind the blasts, suggesting "Arab resistance" elements were involved.
Spain backed the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
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.
In an audiotape released in October, a voice purported to be Osama bin Laden threatened countries 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.
-John F'ing Kerry
Report: Al-Qaida claims Madrid attack that kills 190
The London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi said Thursday it had received a claim of responsibility issued by The Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri in the name of Al-Qaida for the Madrid terrorist attacks that killed at least 190 people and wounded 1,247.
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 received similar letters from the same brigade claiming responsibility on behalf of Al-Qaida for a November bombing of two synagogues in Turkey and the August bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.
Earlier Thursday evening, police probing the attacks found a van with detonators and an Arabic-language tape with Koranic verses, and officials don't rule out any line of investigation, said Interior Minister Angel Acebes.
Ten powerful explosions ripped through three busy Madrid train stations and train cars Thursday just three days before general elections in Spain's worst terrorist attack ever.
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 deadly blasts.
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.
The government blamed the armed Basque separatist group ETA and declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the attacks.
Jacky Eldan, spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Madrid, told Israel Radio no Israelis had appeared on the lists of casualties of the Madrid railway blasts.
Earlier in the day, Acebes said that the ETA was behind the attack.
"ETA had been looking for a massacre in Spain," Acebes said after an emergency cabinet meeting, citing recent thwarted attacks. "Unfortunately, today it achieved its goal."
He said security services knew it was ETA because the group attempted a similar attack on Christmas Eve, placing bombs on two trains bound for a Madrid station that was not hit on Thursday.
He also noted that on February 29, police intercepted a Madrid-bound van packed with more than 500 kilograms of explosives and blamed ETA.
"Therefore, it is absolutely clear and evident that the terrorist organization ETA was looking to commit a major attack," Acebes said. "The only thing that varies is the train station that was targeted."
The Interior Ministry later said the explosives used in the blasts were a kind of dynamite that ETA normally uses.
A ministry official said Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and Interior Minister Angel Acebes had been told this following tests on the explosives. Aznar ruled out talks with ETA after the Madrid railway attacks.
U.S. intelligence: ETA or Al-Qaida carried out attack
U.S. intelligence agencies said it was too early to decide who was behind the attack, but saw the hallmarks of both ETA and Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida.
"There are characteristics of each. You have multiple attacks, multiple explosions in different locations in a short period of time which is very Al-Qaida-ish," said one U.S. official, who declined to be identified.
But the head of the European Union's police agency said the simultaneous bomb blasts in Madrid did not bear the hallmarks of Basque separatist group ETA.
"It could have been ETA... But we're dealing with an attack that doesn't correspond to the 'modus operandi' they have adopted up to now," said Europol director Juergen Storbeck, who was in Rome to talk to an Italian parliamentary committee.
"In the past ETA has always attacked individuals, and if they saw any danger for the public they gave a warning... It's not yet clear they were the authors," Italian news agency Ansa quoted him as saying.
Despite Spain's recent successes against ETA, "there could still be other cells that have not been brought under control and could have become more extremist", he said.
He did not say whether he believed Al-Qaida network might have been behind the attack.
Ten bombs explode in Madrid trains
On Thursday bombs exploded around 7:30 A.M. (0630 GMT) in a commuter train arriving at Atocha station, a bustling hub for subway, commuter and long-distance trains in Spain's capital.
Blasts also rocked trains or platforms at two stations on a commuter line leading to Atocha. The government said there were four blasts altogether.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Moshe Katsav sent letters of condolence to Spain's King Juan Carlos, with Katsav writing that terror organizations protest stability and the rule of law in free, democratic nations. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom condemned the attack and sent a letter of condolence to his Spanish counterpart. Opposition chief Shimon Peres also sent condolences to Spain.
People in tears streamed away from the station as rescue workers carried bodies covered in sheets of gold fabric. People with bloodied faces sat on curbs, using cellphones to tell loved ones they were alive. Hospitals appealed for blood donations. Buses had to be pressed into service as ambulances.
Yehuda Hiss, director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir, told Army Radio that Spanish authorities contacted him for assistance in identifying the victims of the Madrid terror attacks.
The attacks traumatized Spain on the eve of Sunday's general election.
The campaign was largely dominated by separatist tensions in regions like the Basque country, with both the ruling conservative Popular Party and the opposition Socialists ruling out talks with ETA.
But the Socialists came in for withering criticism because a politician linked to the Socialist-run government in the Catalonia region, which also has separatist sentiment, admitted meeting with ETA members in France in January. The Socialists were lambasted as allegedly undermining Spain's fight against ETA.
Rescue workers were overwhelmed, said Enrique Sanchez, an ambulance driver who went to Santa Eugenia station, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) southeast of Atocha station.
"There was one carriage totally blown apart. People were scattered all over the platforms. I saw legs and arms. I won't forget this ever. I've seen horror."
Shards of twisted metal were scattered by rails in the Atocha station at the spot where an explosion severed a train in two.
"I saw many things explode in the air, I don't know, it was horrible," said Juan Fernandez, 50, a civil servant who was on the platform waiting to go to work.
"People started to scream and run, some bumping into each other and as we ran there was another explosion. I saw people with blood pouring from them, people on the ground," Fernandez said.
There was no claim of responsibility, but officials immediately blamed ETA. The toll would make Thursday the deadliest day ever in decades of attacks by ETA. Until now, the highest death toll was 21 killed in a supermarket blast in Barcelona in 1987.
Spanish officials had said ETA was against the ropes following the arrest last year of more than 150 members or collaborators in Spain and France, including the leaders of ETA's commando network. Last year ETA killed three people, compared to 23 in 2000 and 15 in 2001.
ETA often phones in warnings before detonating bombs, but this time it did not, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said. The bombs went off at the peak of the morning rush hour. No arrests were reported.
"Those responsible for this tragedy will be arrested and they will pay very dearly for it," Acebes said at Atocha.
The government convened anti-ETA rallies nationwide for Friday evening.
"What a horror," said the Basque regional president, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, who insisted ETA does not represent the Basque people. "When ETA attacks, the Basque heart breaks into a thousand pieces," he said in the Basque capital Vitoria.
"This is one of those days that you don't want to live through," said opposition Socialist party spokesman Jesus Caldera. "ETA must be defeated," referring to the group as "those terrorists, those animals."
In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called the attacks terrorist atrocities and a "disgusting assault on the very principle of European democracy."
Straw said that Britain stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Spain and was ready to send any kind of material help needed.
Elsewhere, European Parliament President Pat Cox said the bomb attacks amounted to "a declaration of war on democracy."
"No more bombs, no more dead," Cox said in Spanish before a hushed legislature in Strasbourg, France. "It is an outrageous, unjustified and unjustifiable attack on the Spanish people and Spanish democracy."
Police had been on high alert for Basque separatist violence ahead of general elections Sunday, in which regional tensions and how to fight ETA have been key themes. Mariano Rajoy, the candidate for prime minister of the ruling conservative Popular Party, said he was calling off the rest of his campaign.
WELL, WE DO THIS TIME!!!
In fact, a worldwide inquisition is called for.
Oh, you mean the Spanish might like to do some "inquiring"? Nothing like a good Spanish Inqisition.
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