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It is no mystery why Spain was the target of yesterday's terror attacks, which killed nearly 200 people in Madrid. The government of Jose Maria Aznar, the outgoing Prime Minister, is one of the world's staunchest foes of terrorism. On the home front, Mr. Aznar has taken a consistently hard line against ETA, the Basque separatist group that is the government's top suspect in the commuter-train attacks (though it is possible Islamic extremists are to blame). He has refused to negotiate or compromise with ETA until it makes a clean break with violence. On the world stage, he has been...

When the first bomb hit, people were too stunned to move. When the second one went off, people screamed and ran in all directions. "Some even went into the train tunnels without thinking other trains could be coming," said Anibal Altamirano, who was in the Atocha rail center, where seven blasts erupted. "People dropped everything - bags and shoes - and ran, many trampling on others." Terrified commuters banged into each other as they fled in opposite directions and more explosions rocked the station. "I saw many things explode in the air. It was horrible. I saw people with blood...

Death toll in Madrid bombs rises to 198, with 1,430 wounded (Reuters)

MADRID (Reuters) - "I saw a baby torn to bits," said train passenger Ana Maria Mayor, her voice cracking. The blasts that ripped through the heart of Madrid in the morning rush hour on Thursday left pools of blood like in a battlefield. Enrique Sanchez, an ambulance man for 20 years, had never seen anything like it. "There were all kinds of facial wounds, amputations, broken bones," Sanchez said. "There was blood everywhere, so much blood..." Sanchez was in a crew that raced to Atocha station to help the wounded on bombed commuter trains that were ripped open like tuna...

Madrid attacks unlikely to be work of ETA: expert The World Today - Friday, 12 March , 2004 12:22:33 Reporter: Ben Knight HAMISH ROBERTSON: Well while the Spanish authorities might be making an early call on who's responsible, others are more cautious. One Australian expert on terrorism says the Madrid atrocity appears more likely to be the work of al-Qaeda, or a group linked to al-Qaeda, rather than the Basque group, ETA. Dr David Wright-Neville is the Director for the Global Terrorism Project at Monash University. And he's speaking here to our reporter Ben Knight in Melbourne. DAVID WRIGHT-NEVILLE: I'm...

Posted on Thu, Mar. 11, 2004 Report: at least one ETA member was thought to have joined al-Qaida in recent yearsSeries of terrorist blasts kills more than 190 in Spain BY MATTHEW SCHOFIELD Knight Ridder Newspapers MADRID, Spain - (KRT) - More than 190 people were killed and at least another 1,200 injured when a series of terrorist bombs ripped through trains during the Spanish capital's morning rush hour Thursday. It was the bloodiest such attack in Spain's history. Government officials quickly blamed the bombings, three days before national elections, on the Basque separatist group ETA, which has waged a...

The terrorist attacks in Madrid yesterday were a monstrous crime against innocent humanity. They were also a reminder that terrorism is a worldwide threat and that fighting it is not America's problem alone. Combating terrorism effectively requires the fullest possible international cooperation, especially in intelligence, law enforcement and the tracking of terrorist finances. Most of the hard work will be far less dramatic than the successful military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. Indeed, each new terrorist act demonstrates that military action alone is not the solution. Terrorism cannot be eradicated simply by driving the Taliban out of Kabul or capturing...

March 12 — MADRID (Reuters) - Practically all of Spain came to a halt at midday Friday to mourn the 198 dead and 1,463 wounded from Thursday's bombings of four packed commuter trains in Madrid. The nationwide silent vigils -- some lasting five minutes, others 15 -- ended with applause. Devastated Spaniards then carried on with their lives following the worst such attack in Europe in 15 years. Traffic stopped and drivers stood beside their cars on Madrid's main boulevard, Paseo de la Castellana. At Gregorio Maranon hospital, where many of the victims were taken, staff stood on the front...

MADRID, Spain (AP) - Commuters sobbed, lit candles and left flowers Friday at Madrid's Atocha station, a normally bustling railway hub turned sadly quiet after the devastating terrorist attacks. Trains had to roll past two of the bombed-out shells of the four trains hit in the attacks Thursday. The wreckage was still on the track just outside the station. ``I came with a lot of fear,'' said a tearful Isabel Galan, 32, who traveled from the suburb of Fuenlabrada. ``I saw the trains and I burst into tears. I felt so helpless, felt such anger.'' As she talked, her makeup...

It was, reported the BBC, "the most deadly terror attack in Europe since Pan-Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky by a bomb above the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, and the worst in Spanish history." The BBC was wrong. It was much worse than that. Thursday morning's carefully planned bomb blasts in and around Madrid, killed nearly 200 people, and wounded some 1,400 others, all — as this headline in El Mundo put it — "merely because they were Spanish." The Spanish government, and many others, at first blamed the ETA, the Basque terrorists, for the...

MADRID, March 12 (Reuters) - Bombs killing nearly 200 people have injected a deadly new element into Spain's weekend election and could swing voters depending on whether the attacks were the work of Basque guerrillas or Muslim militants. If the government's initial suspicion ETA was behind the blasts is right, that could benefit Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's ruling Popular Party (PP) which has campaigned on its tough line against the separatist group, analysts said. If, however, some indications al Qaeda could have been behind the attacks gain credence, many Spaniards might point a finger at the PP for stirring...

The FBI is concerned about cyberterror, but bombs remain a bigger danger than bytes, the agency’s counterterrorism chief told a joint House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing on last month’s Northeast blackout. ... He also dismissed a subsequent claim of responsibility for the blackout by an alleged terrorist organization, Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade, as “wishful thinking. We have no information confirming the actual existence of this group.”

"On many bodies, we could hear the person's mobile phone ringing as we carted them away," said Beatriz Martin, a doctor who tended to victims amid the carnage at El Pozo station. One of those calling may have been Mari Paz, manager of the nearby La Cenicienta childcare centre, where many parents had left their children before catching the train to work. Seven had yet to contact the nursery. As staff frantically tried to contact the parents, police officers bundled cot mattresses against the windows and walls to protect the children and carers from any further explosions. Atocha station, in...

The train bombs that killed 198 people in the Spanish capital Madrid were set off by mobile phones, according to reports. Meanwhile Spain's prime minister has said police investigating the bombings will follow up every single lead. Jose Maria Aznar vowed the inquiry will "soon bear fruit", and he pledged: "We will bring the guilty to justice." Mr Aznar was speaking as Spain began three days of mourning for the people killed in the blasts. A further 1,400 were injured when 10 bombs exploded in trains and rail stations in the centre of Madrid during the morning rush hour. It...

We’re still not sure exactly who was responsible for the recent atrocity in Madrid. Initial speculation focused on the ETA, a violent Basque separatist group. Now, after a claim of responsibility by an affiliated group, most people are looking towards al-Qaeda. Frankly, on reflection, I believe that this was probably a joint operation, given evidence linking both the ETA and al-Qaeda to the attack. The fact that the sort of explosives used match up with those that the ETA has been caught with in the past points directly at them. The operational methods (which are inconsistent with those of the...

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILYTerrorism: The bombs that exploded in Madrid's train stations were more than a great tragedy. They were a new call to arms for democratic nations everywhere, which again find their very existence under assault.With 200 estimated dead and 1,200 or so injured, the synchronized blasts that tore through Madrid on Thursday have revived fears of a renewed anti-West terror campaign. Though early speculation in the Madrid explosions centered on Basque separatists, it now seems more likely al-Qaida was behind them. On Thursday, a letter purporting to be from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, an arm of Osama bin...

Two million march against terror Madrid - and many other cities - came to a standstill for the silence Up to two million people are taking part in a demonstration against terror in the Spanish capital Madrid a day after bomb attacks killed at least 198. European leaders, including the prime ministers of France and Italy, have joined the protest in solidarity. Similar rallies and vigils are being held across the country. Officials say Basque militants from Eta remain the main suspects - but Basque media are carrying a statement, said to be from the group, denying involvement. 'Assassins' The...

MASSACRE IN MADRID Al-Qaeda prime suspects bin Laden -- He warned Spain By JOHN KAYChief Reporter,   The Sun, UK.  Mar. 12, 2004 TERROR experts last night signalled that al-Qaeda WAS behind the Madrid carnage. Osama Bin Laden’s group became prime suspect after Spanish cops found a van containing detonators and an Arabic tape with Koranic verses. Last night TWO al-Qaeda splinter groups claimed they committed the atrocity — Al Muwahidoun, also called the Lions of Al-Mufridoon, and the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri. Basque terror group ETA is also under suspicion. But in an unusual move Arnaldo Otegi,...

But far deeper and more profound questions abound if Al Qaeda is responsible for the Madrid attacks. Still aware of the Moorish occupation, Spaniards can be fiercely bigoted towards Arabs. But, still fresh out of the Franco era, they are also fiercely pacifist. In that competition of histories, who will become the enemy to everyday Spaniards: Osama bin Laden or George W. Bush? Last night in Barcelona, hundreds gathered to beat pots and pans to protest Aznar's support of the Iraq war, giving a glimpse at what may signal the widespread outcome of these bombings. Unlike Americans, who channeled their...

MADRID (Reuters) - Rucksack bombs used in deadly Madrid train bombings were set off by mobile phone and contained copper detonators, which are not generally used by armed Basque separatist group ETA, a radio station has reported. Cadena Ser radio station quoted security sources as saying the bombs, which blew up on four trains killing 198 people, were activated by mobile telephones which had had their alarms set for 7:39 a.m. (6:39 British time) on Thursday. The detonator in an unexploded bomb recovered by police contained a copper detonator whereas the detonators commonly used by ETA are made of aluminium,...