Al-Qaida, separatists are top suspects in Madrid bombings

MADRID — Spain yesterday put Basque separatists at the top of its list of suspects in a series of bombings that blew apart trains and killed at least 198 people.

But a shadowy group claimed responsibility in the name of al-Qaida for the worst terrorist attack in Spain's history.

The scale of the carnage went far beyond anything the Basque separatists have attempted and led to speculation that other forces might be at work.

Interior Minister Angel Acebes initially said it was "absolutely clear" that separatists were responsible. Later, however, he said police had recovered a stolen van with seven bomb detonators and a tape recording of Quran verses in Arabic. The van was found in a suburb near where the targeted trains originated, he said.

"I have instructed security forces not to discard any line of investigation," Acebes said.

A short time later, an Arabic-language newspaper in London said it had received a claim of responsibility issued in the name of al-Qaida. The letter also said plans for a major attack in the U.S. were almost complete.

The bombing came three days ahead of Spain's general election Sunday. A major campaign issue was how to deal with ETA, the Basque militant group.

The group — Euskadi ta Askatasuna, or Basque Homeland and Freedom — is believed by police to number perhaps only several dozen hard-core militants who are supported by a wider group of Basque nationalists.

The government had recently expressed cautious optimism that ETA was near defeat after mass arrests of alleged members, seizures of weapons and explosives, increased cooperation from neighboring France and the banning of ETA's purported political front. There are many reasons why al-Qaida might target Spain: A Spanish judge has charged dozens of suspected al-Qaida members for involvement in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Spain is holding several people it thinks are connected to al-Qaida, and Spain has supported the United States in Iraq.

In October, Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida, warned in an audiotape that countries, including Spain, that cooperated with the United States risked being targeted.

The 10 backpack bombs exploded in a 15-minute span, starting about 7:39 a.m., on trains along nine miles of commuter line from Santa Eugenia to the Atocha terminal, a bustling hub for subway, commuter and long-distance trains just south of the famed Prado Museum. Police also found and detonated three other bombs.

Panicked commuters trampled on each other, abandoning their bags and shoes, after three of the bombs went off in one train in the Atocha station in the heart of Madrid. Train cars were turned into twisted wrecks and platforms were strewn with corpses. Cellphones rang unanswered on the bodies of the dead as frantic relatives tried to call them.

At least 1,400 people were injured.

Worst hit was a double-decker train at El Pozo station, where two bombs killed 70 people, fire department inspector Juan Redondo said. One corpse was blown onto the roof.

Forty coroners worked to identify remains, the national news agency Efe said. A steady stream of taxis carried relatives to a sprawling convention center used as a makeshift morgue.

"March 11, 2004, now holds its place in the history of infamy," Prime Minister José María Aznar said.

The bombings come 2½ years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and were Europe's worst since the bombing of a Pan Am jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 killed 270 people,

The government called for nationwide anti-ETA rallies this evening, and millions were expected to attend. Three days of national mourning were declared.

The Arabic newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi said the claim of responsibility it had received in the name of al-Qaida, signed by the shadowy Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri, said the brigade's "death squad" had penetrated "one of the pillars of the crusade alliance, Spain."

"This is part of settling old accounts with Spain, the crusader, and America's ally in its war against Islam," the claim said.

Spain had backed the U.S.-led war on Iraq despite domestic opposition, and many al-Qaida-linked terrorists have been captured in Spain or were believed to have operated from there.

Spain's government is studying the reported al-Qaida claim but still believes ETA is more likely responsible, a senior official in Aznar's office said.

A U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was too early to determine who was responsible. The official noted that al-Qaida usually does not take responsibility for attacks.

The United States believes al-Masri sometimes claims to be acting on behalf of al-Qaida, when later it turns out it was not. For example, it took credit for blackouts in the United States and London last year.

If the attack was carried out by ETA, it could signal a radical and lethal change of strategy for the group that has largely targeted police and politicians in its decades-long fight for a separate Basque homeland.

A top Basque politician, Arnold Otegi, denied ETA was behind the blasts and blamed "Arab resistance," noting Spain's support for the Iraq war.

The government said ETA had tried a similar attack on Christmas Eve, placing bombs on two trains bound for a Madrid station that was not hit yesterday.

"ETA had been looking for a massacre," said Acebes, the interior minister. "Unfortunately, today it achieved its goal."

The Interior Ministry said tests showed the bombers used titadine, a kind of compressed dynamite also found in a bomb-laden van intercepted last month as it headed for Madrid, a source at Aznar's office said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Officials blamed ETA then, too.

In a break with ETA tactics, there were multiple attacks and no advance warning. ETA has usually gone after one target at a time and the largest casualty toll was 21 killed in 1987. ETA has claimed responsibility for more than 800 deaths since 1968.

Sympathy poured in from capitals worldwide, led by Spain's partners in the 15-nation European Union, and neighboring France raised its terror-alert level. The United States, Britain and Russia said the attacks demonstrated the need for toughened resolve against terrorists.

"I appreciate so very much the Spanish government's fight against terror, their resolute stand against terrorist organizations like the ETA, and the United States stands with them," said President Bush, who spoke by telephone with Aznar.

Aznar was a staunch supporter of U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein and Spain sent 1,300 troops to Iraq.

Aznar, who survived a car bombing in 1995, will step down when a new government is formed after the elections.

Revulsion over the attack could benefit Aznar's ruling conservative Popular Party because of its hard-line stance against ETA. Both the Popular Party and the opposition Socialists ruled out talks with ETA during the campaign.

"No negotiation is possible or desirable with these assassins who so many times have sown death all around Spain," Aznar said.

Compiled from The Associated Press, Knight Ridder Newspapers and The Washington Post.