Bombing in Madrid

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:27 am

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03 ... index.html

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spanish government officials have pinned the blame on the Basque separatist group ETA for Thursday's blasts in Madrid that killed at least 192 people, but investigators were also exploring a lead with Arabic and Islamic links.

The brazen morning rush-hour terror strikes at city train stations also wounded at least 1,400.

The initial belief among officials was that ETA, designated a terror group by the United States and the European Union, was responsible.

But Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes said authorities were investigating a van found in the town of Alcala de Henares, outside Madrid, with at least seven detonators and an Arabic tape with Koranic teachings.

The tape contained no threats and is a type available commercially. The van was stolen last month.

The new line of investigation, sparked by a citizen's tip, raised the possibility of a link to Islamic militants.

A U.S. official cautioned it was "still too early to say" whether the bombings were the work of ETA or other terror groups, including al Qaeda.

Referring to a statement that claimed responsibility and was attributed to a group allegedly affiliated with al Qaeda that was received by a London-based Arabic-language newspaper, the U.S. official said "keep in mind we often see false claims of responsibility," and that even for attacks it did commit, "al Qaeda frequently takes no public credit."

Khalid al-Shami, political editor of Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper in London, told CNN the letter was from Abu Hafs al-Masri, which he said was affiliated with al Qaeda.

He said the group has issued credible claims in the past and claimed responsibility for Monday's attacks in Istanbul on a Masonic lodge.

But intelligence sources have consistently told CNN that Abu Hafs al-Masri does not speak for al Qaeda, and there is a question about whether it exists at all beyond one person with a computer and a fax machine. (Full story)

In an interview on Radio Popular in Basque Country, Arnaldo Otegi, leader of banned radical political party Batasuna, said he did not believe ETA was responsible.

The attacks could have been "an operation by sectors of the Arab resistance," he said. Before the discovery of the van, Acebes said Otegi was simply trying to confuse the situation.

ETA 'must be crushed'
The scale of the attack was unlike anything ETA has ever carried out. The highest death toll in any ETA-linked attack was in 1987 -- when 21 were killed in a Barcelona supermarket blast.

Attacks blamed on or claimed by ETA through the years have killed 800 people in Spain. The group has been fighting for an independent homeland in northern Spain.

Authorities also said ETA usually posts warnings and claims responsibility for the actions.

One Basque official called it the worst terror attack in Spanish history.

The Spanish ambassador to the United States, Javier Ruperez, who said he believes ETA was responsible, said "in a way it is" Spain's September 11, referring to the 2001 terror attacks in New York and Washington.

Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar addressed the nation and condemned the terrorists attack, saying ETA must be crushed, and opposed negotiations with them.

"There is no possible negotiation with these killers," he said.

Countries across the world expressed their outrage. (Global reaction)

U.S. President Bush sent his condolences to Spain, one of the top U.S. allies in the Iraqi war, saying "we weep with the families" and "we stand strong with the people of Spain."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called it "a disgusting assault on the very principle of European democracy."

The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning the attack "in the strongest terms."

Attack timeline
The attacks took place at the height of Thursday's rush hour when three separate trains were hit by near-simultaneous explosions before 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) along the southern part of Madrid's train network, officials said.

Acebes said there were multiple explosions at the Santa Eugenia, El Pozo and Atocha stations, and three other bombs were found and detonated by police.

The deadliest blast happened on a train entering Madrid's main Atocha station, according to Acebes.

Acebes said suspicion focused on ETA because the modus operandi was similar in December and February incidents, and the type of explosives matched those typically used by ETA. Anti-terror officials said the dynamite was stolen in France three years ago.

Survivors described scenes of chaos and panic.

"The worst was people screaming for help inside the train and there was nothing we could do," one survivor told CNN's Spanish sister network, CNN+.

Survivors used mobile phones to tell relatives they were alive.
People in tears walked away from the city's main Atocha station in droves as rescue workers carried bodies away from the scene. (Eyewitnesses)

The attack took place ahead of Sunday's general election in which Spain's conservative ruling Popular Party -- which has taken a hard-line stance against ETA -- is leading in the polls.

After the blasts, all political parties announced they were suspending campaign rallies, but there has been no word that elections would be suspended.

The government called for a three-day period of mourning, and impromptu anti-ETA demonstrations broke out in Madrid and other cities.

Spanish police -- who have foiled several recent bombing attempts by ETA -- were on high alert for terror attacks ahead of Sunday's vote. (On The Scene)

Spain's King Juan Carlos, who spent the day visiting the wounded, expressed his sorrow to the families of the victims on TV in a brief taped address.

"Your king is suffering with you," he said.

He called the perpetrators "cowards and murderers" who "should suffer for the crimes they have committed."

Spain must be resolute in fighting the violence, he said. "There is no other option but unity, firmness and serenity in the fight against terrorism."

Shortly after the blasts, Basque leader Juan Jose Ibarretxe held a news conference from the Basque capital of Vitoria to condemn the violence and to call for demonstrations against ETA.

Basque member of parliament Gustavo Aristegui -- who was in Madrid at the time of the attack -- also blamed ETA.

"This is probably Spain's worst terrorist attack in history -- not probably, surely our worst terrorist attack ever," Aristegui told CNN. "There are people that are real monsters that are trying to blackmail the whole society through acts of terror."

Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio placed the blame squarely on ETA: "We knew they are preparing a very big terror attack."

"ETA has a very clear pattern in its activities and we unfortunately have a long experience in dealing with them," she said.

On February 29, Spanish police seized more than 1,000 pounds of explosives and arrested two suspected ETA members who were planning to carry out an attack in Madrid, an official said. (Full story)

Tetrad · Post by **Tetrad** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:42 am

My grandfather flew into Madrid the day before that happened. Scary stuff.

Zoop! · Post by **Zoop!** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:50 am

Current Death Toll: 199

I read somewhere that it was exactly 911 days after 9/11, or 2.5 years after 9/11 makes it emotionally worse.

Scary stuff indeed.

Tetrad · Post by **Tetrad** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 2:32 am

Zoop! wrote:I read somewhere that it was exactly 911 days after 9/11

I was going to call BS numerology on this, but I counted it myself and it turned out to be the case. Possibly a coincidence, considering that most of the world does their dates the other way around, but you never know.

index_html · Post by **index_html** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 3:33 am

Pretty amazing to see all those Spaniards take to the streets to send a collective F.U. to those responsible. Millions of people:

http://homepage.mac.com/sbooneaz/iblog/ ... index.html

Of course, there always has to be the crapthink contigent when a crowd forms ... maybe she can make an appearance at a crowded Iraqi mass grave with her little sign:

http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/index.php?p=50

P.S. I figured it to be 912 days, including the 11th itself and leap day.

Flabby Chick · Post by **Flabby Chick** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 6:24 am

Sympathy for the Spanish, no matter who did it.

London will be targeted soon, even though the security is as tight as a witches a$$ there at the moment, you can never stop it. Sad.

FC

roid · Post by **roid** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 6:59 am

yeah i thought that was great of them to take to the streets like that in mass defiance.

they are not afraid.

Lothar · Post by **Lothar** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 11:27 am

Tetrad, numerology is usually BS when it's referring to unplanned events. Since we're dealing with people who plan events for symbolic reasons, though, a lot of the numerology is going to work out by design.

Tricord · Post by **Tricord** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 11:35 am

They don't know yet who did it. There is a native terrorist organisation in Spain called ETA, which fights for the independance of it's region. Their attacs have always been coordinated, they always notified the police beforehand and there was always a specific person targeted.

The attacks in Madrid are different, so if it's the ETA they seriously changed their way of operating. On a sidenote, it is known that the explosives as well as the detonators were from Spanish make.

Anyway, I don't live in a city susceptible to be attacked, but it does make you think. Brussels, which houses the European parliament and NATO headquarters, is only 50km from here. The threat seems real after this.

Kyouryuu · Post by **Kyouryuu** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 11:39 am

There was a news story recently, however, that proposed a link between ETA to Al Queda.

Apparently, ETA has been around in Spain since the 1960s. It was a group of revolutionaries in the beginning, but it quickly degraded into senseless bombings on civilian targets. There was a significant crackdown on ETA in the decades that followed, and many of its top leaders will brought to justice. However, the current ETA is comprised of many radical splinter groups. One in particular is led by an ex-Al Queda officer who had personal dealings with Bin Laden.

And what do we have? Another senseless attack that took the lives of hundreds of innocents.

Definitely sounds like Al Queda's M.O.

Lothar · Post by **Lothar** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 11:41 am

From what I understand, the current leading theory is that ETA and Al Qaeda teamed up on this bombing, because:
- the weapons were all Spanish-made
- the weapons were similar to those found in arrests on ETA members in the past month
but:
- the ETA almost always targets military or government targets, but AQ targets civilians
- the ETA calls to give warning, and to take responsibility, but AQ doesn't
- the ETA never coordinates attacks, but AQ does
And finally:
- other sources have stated that the two groups had been increasing their levels of cooperation recently

This is an important line:

The threat seems real after this.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 5:42 pm

Zoop! wrote:I read somewhere that it was exactly 911 days after 9/11, or 2.5 years after 9/11 makes it emotionally worse.

Scary stuff indeed.

Don't forget to take leap year into account.

Flabby Chick · Post by **Flabby Chick** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 12:30 am

Not that it matters to the victims but it looks like AQ wants to admit it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3509426.stm

bash · Post by **bash** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 12:35 am

I hope the Spaniards understand that this is not a tit-for-tat response for their support of the US/UK/Coalition attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq, regardless of the bullsh!t AQ puts out. This threat is everyone's problem and no one's fault.

HaAGen DaZS · Post by **HaAGen DaZS** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 1:26 am

i heard they had also found tapes from AQ with evidence.

FC, I'm not so sure about the UK still being under a huge threat. we are a target, but since sept 11th we have been arresting active terrorist left right and centre!

----
i wonder how long spain's sense of nationalism will last.. we've seen this before =/

my condolences to the people's families...

Flabby Chick · Post by **Flabby Chick** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:27 am

It scares me to say it, HD, but i have this awful gut feeling that London will get somthing big in the not to distant future, Blunkett has allready said as much. I hope i'm wrong 'cause i've got lots of family and freinds there.

If Madrid turns out to be AQ, then it's just a matter of time for Italy and The UK. At least the French can sleep peacefully

FC

HaAGen DaZS · Post by **HaAGen DaZS** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 8:11 am

its starting to look like a coalition to me, to be honest...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3509426.stm

FC, I definatly agree London is a *huge* target, but I only have a small insecurity (;)) that something big will happen.

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 8:16 am

Unfortunately, Spain was a easy target and AQ needed to do something "big" to show that they still existed.
I hope all those who are bemoaning the patriot act and homeland security now understand why they are in place.

HD, ya...you're pretty secure. Can't see too many ragheads wanting to throw one up your kilts.

Cuda68-2 · Post by **Cuda68-2** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 7:00 pm

They caved in to the terrorists, so now they will always be an easy target. Wonder how long before they ask for help and support.