Posted on 03/11/2004 6:43:33 PM PST by empirekin768
Al-Qaeda 'behind Madrid blasts' By staff writers and wires March 12, 2004 A GROUP linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network has claimed responsibility for yesterday's bombs in Spain that killed more than 190 and injured 1400.
The group, calling itself The Brigade of Abu Hafs Al-Masri, said it was acting in the name of al-Qaeda in a letter to a London Arabic-language newspaper.
It said one of its "death squads" had penetrated "one of the pillars of the crusade alliance, Spain".
A total of 13 bombs were planted in three railway stations yesterday in the worst terrorist attack ever on Spanish soil. The bombs killed at least 192 and injured 1400 people when they exploded at 7.30am local time (5.30pm AEDT).
It was Europe's worst terror attack since the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.
Unconfirmed reports say a suicide bomber was on at least one of the four trains struck in the co-ordinated attacks.
Spanish investigators believe the country is a hub of European activity for Islamic extremist terror groups, led by al-Qaeda. Lead September 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta visited Spain twice ahead of the operation to finalise details of the 2001 plot, anti-terror investigators say.(Full story: al-Qaeda's Spanish connections)
News of al-Qaeda's involvement sent shock waves through American markets, with the US dollar quickly sliding in value. At 11.30am AEDT it was trading at 0.7347c against the Australian dollar, down from an opening price of 73.81c.
Authorities initially suspected Basque separatist group ETA but are now following several lines of inquiry after a van full of detonators and audio tapes reciting verses from the Koran was found east of the Spanish capital.
After an emergency Cabinet meeting, a sombre Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar vowed to hunt down the attackers.
"This is mass murder," he said.
After the blasts, commuters panicked, trampling one another, abandoning their shoes and bags, as the bombs turned commuter trains into twisted wrecks and left platforms strewn with bodies. Cellphones rang unanswered on corpses.
Distraught student Isabel Vega said: "It was horrible. After the explosion people hurled themselves to the floor. There were dead and injured lying all around."
In all, 10 devices exploded. The remaining three were defused by Spanish bomb squads.
World leaders condemned the atrocity, three days before Spain's general election, as an attack on democracy and urged a joint stand against terrorism.
People took to the streets of Madrid in anti-ETA protests, though it now appears the Basque group may not have been behind the atrocity / AFP Prime Minister John Howard said it was "a dreadful atrocity without any justification".
"I express on behalf of the Australian people our sorrow and our outrage and our sense of support and concern for the people of Spain," Mr Howard said.
The letter to London's Al-Quds Al-Arabi from the terror group said; "The death squad (of the Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades) succeeded in penetrating the crusader European depths and striking one of the pillars of the crusader alliance - Spain - with a painful blow."
It was signed "Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades/Al-Qaeda" and dated March 11.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was a fervent ally in the 2003 US-led war in Iraq to oust former leader Saddam Hussein and Madrid still deploys 1300 troops as part of a multinational force in the war-torn country.
ETA emphatically denied any link to the atrocity. The Basque group's usual practice is to issue bomb warnings and quickly claim responsibility for its actions.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned the attack saying it highlighted the threat posed by terrorism worldwide.
"The 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," he said.
US President George W. Bush rang Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar to send "his condolences over the viciousness" of the attack, said National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack.
with AP & AFP
Nothing like dredging up something that happened 800 years ago as a reason for their twisted retribution.
So far I have seen nothing about this in the Spanish press. Anybody have any ideas about the source of that report?
Because if it's true, this is definitely not ETA. Increasingly, I doubt that it was ETA, anyway, because the attack was far too complex and extensive for ETA.
Kerry:
1) "Bush has been unable to capture bin Laden, thus laying the foundation for this attack."
2) "We must reach out to the 'Arab Street' by laying aside the divisive elements of Christianity and Judaism."
3) "The word 'Crusader' must be struck from the English language.
When you've only got 20 guys in your club, it's tough to give up seven of them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.