Spain Mourns 192 Dead, Probes Al Qaeda Bomb Claim
Thu Mar 11, 2004 08:47 PM ET
Reuters

By Adrian Croft
MADRID (Reuters) - Spaniards mourned the death of 192 people in the country's worst guerrilla attack on Friday as officials looked into a purported al Qaeda claim that it was responsible for the bombings on packed commuter trains. The Spanish government said it believed armed Basque separatist group ETA was most likely to blame for the simultaneous bombings of four trains at Madrid stations on Thursday three days before a general election.

However, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said police were not ruling out any lines of investigation after finding a van containing seven detonators and a tape in Arabic at a town near Madrid where the bombs may have been placed on the trains. Apart from those killed, some 1,421 people were injured in Europe's bloodiest guerrilla attack for more than 15 years.

The picture was clouded late on Thursday when a letter purporting to come from al Qaeda claimed responsibility. "We have succeeded in infiltrating the heart of crusader Europe and struck one of the bases of the crusader alliance," said the letter, a copy of which was faxed by al-Quds newspaper to Reuters. No authentication was available of the letter.

An Interior Ministry source said officials were looking into the claim but ETA remained the first line of investigation. Spain is one of Washington's closest European allies and stood squarely behind President Bush's decision last year to go to war in Iraq. Investigators say there were 10 blasts. The bombs, in rucksacks, each contained around 22 lbs. of explosives.

El Mound newspaper said Madrid had suffered "the worst terrorist attack in Spanish history," calling it "Our September 11." Amid a wave of grief and revulsion, Spaniards placed candles and flowers at the Santa Eugenia station in southeastern Madrid where one of the blasts occurred.