Al Qaeda Claim Spain Bombing
Mar 12, 2004
MADRID, Friday — Spain yesterday said the death toll in the Thursday morning bomb blasts rose to198 dead and 1,430 injured
MADRID, Friday — Spain yesterday said the death toll in the Thursday morning bomb blasts rose to198 dead and 1,430 injured.
The simultaneous bomb blasts ripped through four packed commuter trains in Europe’s bloodiest attack in over 15 years.
Spain focused blame on the Basque separatist group ETA, but a purported al Qaeda letter claimed responsibility and said a big attack on the United States was nearly ready, interior minister Angel Acebes said Police were not ruling out any clues 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.
And a letter purporting to come from a group linked to al Qaeda claimed responsibility.
A London based Arabic newspaper Al-Quids Al-Arabi issued a statement it said it had received from Al-Qaeda claiming responsibility for the Madrid blasts.
The attack “was a part of the settling of old scores with crusader Spain, America’s ally in its war against Islam,†said the statement, a copy of which was sent to AFP by the newspaper.
“Where is America, O Aznar? Who is going to protect you, Britain, Japan, Italy and other collaborators from us?†the statement asked.
The tone recalled that employed in an audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden and aired by Al-Jazeera Television on October 18 in which the Al-Qaeda leader threatened attacks against Spain, Britain, Australia, Poland, Japan and Italy.
The statement also claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a Masonic lodge in Istanbul two days earlier and for the killing of 19 Italian soldiers and civilians in southern Iraq last November.
It threatened attacks on US targets.
The editor of Al-Quds, Abdel Bari Atwan, said he believed the Al-Qaeda claim was genuine.
“We have succeeded in infiltrating the heart of crusader Europe and struck one of the bases of the crusader alliance,†said the purported al Qaeda letter.
A copy was faxed by London-based al-Quds newspaper to Reuters.
No authentication was available of the letter attributed to the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, a group aligned to al Qaeda.
The head of the European Union police agency said the simultaneous bomb blasts in Madrid on Thursday did not bear the hallmarks of Basque separatist group ETA.
Agencies
The simultaneous bomb blasts ripped through four packed commuter trains in Europe’s bloodiest attack in over 15 years.
Spain focused blame on the Basque separatist group ETA, but a purported al Qaeda letter claimed responsibility and said a big attack on the United States was nearly ready, interior minister Angel Acebes said Police were not ruling out any clues 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.
And a letter purporting to come from a group linked to al Qaeda claimed responsibility.
A London based Arabic newspaper Al-Quids Al-Arabi issued a statement it said it had received from Al-Qaeda claiming responsibility for the Madrid blasts.
The attack “was a part of the settling of old scores with crusader Spain, America’s ally in its war against Islam,†said the statement, a copy of which was sent to AFP by the newspaper.
“Where is America, O Aznar? Who is going to protect you, Britain, Japan, Italy and other collaborators from us?†the statement asked.
The tone recalled that employed in an audiotape attributed to Osama bin Laden and aired by Al-Jazeera Television on October 18 in which the Al-Qaeda leader threatened attacks against Spain, Britain, Australia, Poland, Japan and Italy.
The statement also claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a Masonic lodge in Istanbul two days earlier and for the killing of 19 Italian soldiers and civilians in southern Iraq last November.
It threatened attacks on US targets.
The editor of Al-Quds, Abdel Bari Atwan, said he believed the Al-Qaeda claim was genuine.
“We have succeeded in infiltrating the heart of crusader Europe and struck one of the bases of the crusader alliance,†said the purported al Qaeda letter.
A copy was faxed by London-based al-Quds newspaper to Reuters.
No authentication was available of the letter attributed to the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, a group aligned to al Qaeda.
The head of the European Union police agency said the simultaneous bomb blasts in Madrid on Thursday did not bear the hallmarks of Basque separatist group ETA.
Agencies