By Tito Drago
MADRID, Mar 12 2004 (IPS)

Spain awoke Friday still in a state of shock over the devastating terrorist attacks in Madrid which left at least 198 dead and 1,430 injured Thursday. As the country gets ready for Sunday’s elections, uncertainty prevails over who was responsible for the attacks.

Spain awoke Friday still in a state of shock over the devastating terrorist attacks in Madrid which left at least 198 dead and 1,430 injured Thursday. As the country gets ready for Sunday’s elections, uncertainty prevails over who was responsible for the attacks.

Prime Minister José María Aznar said Friday that the authorities had not ruled out ”any line of investigation.” He added that ”the only difference marking religious fanaticism is the alibis they use, but all terrorists obey the same murderous impulse.”

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks immediately. However, Interior Minister Angel Acebes initially told reporters that ”there is no doubt that the (Basque separatist) terrorist group ETA is responsible” for the incidents.

Several hours later, new evidence emerged that pointed to the possible involvement of a group with links to the al-Qaeda Islamic terrorist network led by Saudi national Osama bin Laden, which the United States holds responsible for the Sep. 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

In a later press conference, Acebes said a stolen van recovered in the town of Alcalá de Henares, the starting point of several of the trains carrying explosives, was found with detonators and an audiotape of verses from the Koran.

On Friday, Aznar defended the initial position taken by his government in blaming ETA, despite the lack of clear evidence.

”What did that terrorist organisation (ETA) mean to do when it tried to enter Madrid last week with 500 kgs of explosives?” he asked, pointing to the recent arrest of members of the Basque separatist group ”who were heading towards Madrid to blow up trains and the Chamartín station.”

”Who with any brains at all in Spain, after 30 years of terrorism, faced with an attack like yesterday’s, will not logically, reasonably assume” that it was the work of ETA? he asked.

The secretary-general of the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, urged Aznar Friday to ”keep society informed” about the course of the investigations, and said Spaniards ”have the right to know” who was responsible.

Zapatero, PSOE candidate for prime minister, said the families of the victims ”have the right to know what information and evidence emerges.”

On Thursday, all of the political parties blamed ETA, with the exception of the banned Batasuna, which has ties to the Basque separatist group.

Batasuna spokesman Arnaldo Otegi said the attacks were not committed by ETA, but by ”the Arab resistance” in retaliation for the Aznar administration’s support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

The governing Popular Party (PP), the PSOE and the United Left (IU) coalition simultaneously and independently called off their election campaigns Thursday.

The Women’s Institute, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, the non-governmental organisation Interred and other public and private institutions also suspended rallies and other activities scheduled for the last few days before the elections.

All parties – with the exception of Batasuna – as well as trade unions and human rights groups called Friday demonstrations to condemn the carnage. The protests are to be held under the theme ”With the Victims, With the Constitution, for the Defeat of Terrorism”.

Comisiones Obreras, the central trade union affiliated with the Communist Party, issued a statement calling for ”democratic unity against terrorism,” and demanding ”a forceful, massive and united response.”

Thursday’s blasts, the worst terrorist attacks in the history of Spain, involved 10 rush-hour explosions in trains coming mainly from lower-income neighbourhoods. The trains were packed with commuters on their way to work and parents accompanying children to school. Another three bombs were found and deactivated.

One of the explosions occurred at the Pozo de Tío Raimundo station. This terminus, located in a district that bears the same name, became famous in the last years of the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (1939-1975) for its clandestine pro-democracy activities.

Another blast took place in the Santa Eugenia station, and several more at the central Madrid station of Atocha, a transport hub that links commuter trains and subway lines. Atocha is located just two kilometres from Puerta del Sol, the seat of government.

Amidst the chaos that followed the Atocha blasts, IPS saw concerted efforts by the public to help wounded commuters. Local residents poured out of their homes with blankets, pillows and water to provide assistance to the injured.

One of the passengers holding a handkerchief to the wound on his head refused medical attention, pointing to the train where several carriages were destroyed and saying ”There are seriously wounded people in there, pull them out.”

Hospitals were swamped by people who arrived to donate blood – so much so that the Health Ministry was forced to issue a radio appeal asking people to keep away, in order to relieve the crowding in hospitals.

Jonatan, a Red Cross volunteer, told IPS that he had to overcome a ”terrible pain” that almost paralysed him when he and fellow rescue workers began to search for wounded people amongst the remains of bodies in the trains.

On Friday morning, millions of people around Spain stopped whatever they were doing and observed 15 minutes of silence in solidarity with the victims and to condemn the attacks.

Excerpt:

By Tito Drago
MADRID, Mar 12 2004 (IPS)

Spain awoke Friday still in a state of shock over the devastating terrorist attacks in Madrid which left at least 198 dead and 1,430 injured Thursday. As the country gets ready for Sunday’s elections, uncertainty prevails over who was responsible for the attacks.

Prime Minister José María Aznar said Friday that the authorities had not ruled out ”any line of investigation.” He added that ”the only difference marking religious fanaticism is the alibis they use, but all terrorists obey the same murderous impulse.”

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks immediately. However, Interior Minister Angel Acebes initially told reporters that ”there is no doubt that the (Basque separatist) terrorist group ETA is responsible” for the incidents.

Several hours later, new evidence emerged that pointed to the possible involvement of a group with links to the al-Qaeda Islamic terrorist network led by Saudi national Osama bin Laden, which the United States holds responsible for the Sep. 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

In a later press conference, Acebes said a stolen van recovered in the town of Alcalá de Henares, the starting point of several of the trains carrying explosives, was found with detonators and an audiotape of verses from the Koran.

Shortly after the minister spoke to the press, a London-based Arabic newspaper – Al-Quds Al-Arabí – reported that it had received an e-mail signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade, which has ties to al-Qaeda, claiming responsibility for the attacks in Madrid.

On Friday, Aznar defended the initial position taken by his government in blaming ETA, despite the lack of clear evidence.

”What did that terrorist organisation (ETA) mean to do when it tried to enter Madrid last week with 500 kgs of explosives?” he asked, pointing to the recent arrest of members of the Basque separatist group ”who were heading towards Madrid to blow up trains and the Chamartín station.”

”Who with any brains at all in Spain, after 30 years of terrorism, faced with an attack like yesterday’s, will not logically, reasonably assume” that it was the work of ETA? he asked.

The secretary-general of the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, urged Aznar Friday to ”keep society informed” about the course of the investigations, and said Spaniards ”have the right to know” who was responsible.

Zapatero, PSOE candidate for prime minister, said the families of the victims ”have the right to know what information and evidence emerges.”

On Thursday, all of the political parties blamed ETA, with the exception of the banned Batasuna, which has ties to the Basque separatist group.

Batasuna spokesman Arnaldo Otegi said the attacks were not committed by ETA, but by ”the Arab resistance” in retaliation for the Aznar administration’s support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

The governing Popular Party (PP), the PSOE and the United Left (IU) coalition simultaneously and independently called off their election campaigns Thursday.

The Women’s Institute, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, the non-governmental organisation Interred and other public and private institutions also suspended rallies and other activities scheduled for the last few days before the elections.

All parties – with the exception of Batasuna – as well as trade unions and human rights groups called Friday demonstrations to condemn the carnage. The protests are to be held under the theme ”With the Victims, With the Constitution, for the Defeat of Terrorism”.

Comisiones Obreras, the central trade union affiliated with the Communist Party, issued a statement calling for ”democratic unity against terrorism,” and demanding ”a forceful, massive and united response.”

Thursday’s blasts, the worst terrorist attacks in the history of Spain, involved 10 rush-hour explosions in trains coming mainly from lower-income neighbourhoods. The trains were packed with commuters on their way to work and parents accompanying children to school. Another three bombs were found and deactivated.

One of the explosions occurred at the Pozo de Tío Raimundo station. This terminus, located in a district that bears the same name, became famous in the last years of the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (1939-1975) for its clandestine pro-democracy activities.

Another blast took place in the Santa Eugenia station, and several more at the central Madrid station of Atocha, a transport hub that links commuter trains and subway lines. Atocha is located just two kilometres from Puerta del Sol, the seat of government.

Amidst the chaos that followed the Atocha blasts, IPS saw concerted efforts by the public to help wounded commuters. Local residents poured out of their homes with blankets, pillows and water to provide assistance to the injured.

One of the passengers holding a handkerchief to the wound on his head refused medical attention, pointing to the train where several carriages were destroyed and saying ”There are seriously wounded people in there, pull them out.”

Hospitals were swamped by people who arrived to donate blood – so much so that the Health Ministry was forced to issue a radio appeal asking people to keep away, in order to relieve the crowding in hospitals.

Jonatan, a Red Cross volunteer, told IPS that he had to overcome a ”terrible pain” that almost paralysed him when he and fellow rescue workers began to search for wounded people amongst the remains of bodies in the trains.

On Friday morning, millions of people around Spain stopped whatever they were doing and observed 15 minutes of silence in solidarity with the victims and to condemn the attacks.

Excerpt: