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Fear of New Bomb Attacks Grows in Spain
By Estelle Shirbon
MADRID (Reuters) - High-speed trains to southern Spain began running again on Saturday after a bomb found on the line was defused but fears grew that Islamic extremists could strike again after the Madrid rail bombings.
The 12-kg (26-lb) bomb found on Friday on the high-speed line from Madrid to the southern city of Seville revived tension that was just beginning to subside after suspected al Qaeda-linked commuter train bombs killed 191 people on March 11.
Interior Minister Angel Acebes told a news conference the dynamite in Friday's bomb was of the same Goma 2 Eco make as that used on March 11 and said it was possible that the type of detonator could be common to both.
However, officials cautioned that both the explosives and detonators are widely used in mining.
The bomb was spotted by railway workers and defused. Investigators believe extremists planned to derail a high-speed train in an attack that might have killed hundreds of people.
Acebes has said the radical Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group is the main suspect in the March 11 bombings, but he threw no light on who might be responsible for Friday's bomb.
"The investigation is beginning and so it would be very hasty to say any organization was responsible for yesterday," he said when asked if it could be the shadowy Moroccan group, which is believed to be tied to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
Spanish newspapers were less cautious, saying the evidence pointed to Islamic militants in both cases.
El Pais newspaper reported that Spain is the main al Qaeda base in Europe and said police believed al Qaeda could strike again here.
Spain could be a target for attack by Islamic militants because of its strong support for U.S. policy on Iraq under outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
But Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who takes office later this month after his upset victory in elections held three days after the Madrid bombs, has pledged to bring 1,300 Spanish troops home from Iraq if the United Nations does not take charge there by the end of June.
The prestigious AVE trains, which can reach 350 kmh (220 mph), began running again on Saturday after being suspended on Friday while police painstakingly checked the track.
But passengers were anxious and trains which had been almost fully booked a few days earlier were half-empty, said a Reuters correspondent traveling on one of the first high-speed trains out of Madrid.
"It always affects you. You can't be calm. Everything seems fairly under control but you don't know what will happen," said passenger Jose Antonio Perez, a 40-year-old chemist.
Normally, the trains would have been packed with travelers leaving town for the Holy Week holiday.
AL QAEDA ACTIVE IN SPAIN
The chairman of Spanish state railway company Renfe, Miguel Corsini, took the first high-speed service to Seville to show it was safe. The train arrived without incident.
Spain was once used as a rear base by Islamic militants, but having failed with attempted attacks in other European countries, "sleeper cells" were now carrying out operations in Spain, El Pais said. Police suspected 200 people in Spain of cooperating with radical Islamic groups, it said.
Spain is holding 15 people, many of them Moroccan, over the March 11 attacks.
Interpol said it had issued international wanted persons notices for six suspects in the Madrid train bombing investigation. It sent the notices to police in 181 countries after a Spanish judge signed arrest warrants for the five Moroccans and one Tunisian.
"With terrorism an ever-increasing threat, efficient cooperation between the world's police is essential," Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said in a statement.
Spanish authorities, anxious to reassure citizens, ordered the army to help protect the high-speed railway and other key installations, using helicopters and armored vehicles.
In Britain, a Department of Transport spokesman said the department had taken note of developments in Spain.
"What has been announced in Madrid today will be considered with a view toward lessons to be learned, and this will be fed into our security regime," he said.
Several newspapers reported that the Spanish embassy in Egypt had recently received a letter signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades and al Qaeda threatening to attack embassies, consulates and other Spanish interests in north Africa and the southern and eastern Mediterranean region.
The letter said the attacks could be avoided if Spain withdrew its soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan in the next four weeks, El Mundo newspaper reported.
A letter sent to a London-based Arabic newspaper on March 11 claimed responsibility for the Madrid train attacks on behalf of the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades -- a group that aligns itself to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
Original Story
By Estelle Shirbon
MADRID (Reuters) - High-speed trains to southern Spain began running again on Saturday after a bomb found on the line was defused but fears grew that Islamic extremists could strike again after the Madrid rail bombings.
The 12-kg (26-lb) bomb found on Friday on the high-speed line from Madrid to the southern city of Seville revived tension that was just beginning to subside after suspected al Qaeda-linked commuter train bombs killed 191 people on March 11.
Interior Minister Angel Acebes told a news conference the dynamite in Friday's bomb was of the same Goma 2 Eco make as that used on March 11 and said it was possible that the type of detonator could be common to both.
However, officials cautioned that both the explosives and detonators are widely used in mining.
The bomb was spotted by railway workers and defused. Investigators believe extremists planned to derail a high-speed train in an attack that might have killed hundreds of people.
Acebes has said the radical Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group is the main suspect in the March 11 bombings, but he threw no light on who might be responsible for Friday's bomb.
"The investigation is beginning and so it would be very hasty to say any organization was responsible for yesterday," he said when asked if it could be the shadowy Moroccan group, which is believed to be tied to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
Spanish newspapers were less cautious, saying the evidence pointed to Islamic militants in both cases.
El Pais newspaper reported that Spain is the main al Qaeda base in Europe and said police believed al Qaeda could strike again here.
Spain could be a target for attack by Islamic militants because of its strong support for U.S. policy on Iraq under outgoing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
But Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who takes office later this month after his upset victory in elections held three days after the Madrid bombs, has pledged to bring 1,300 Spanish troops home from Iraq if the United Nations does not take charge there by the end of June.
The prestigious AVE trains, which can reach 350 kmh (220 mph), began running again on Saturday after being suspended on Friday while police painstakingly checked the track.
But passengers were anxious and trains which had been almost fully booked a few days earlier were half-empty, said a Reuters correspondent traveling on one of the first high-speed trains out of Madrid.
"It always affects you. You can't be calm. Everything seems fairly under control but you don't know what will happen," said passenger Jose Antonio Perez, a 40-year-old chemist.
Normally, the trains would have been packed with travelers leaving town for the Holy Week holiday.
AL QAEDA ACTIVE IN SPAIN
The chairman of Spanish state railway company Renfe, Miguel Corsini, took the first high-speed service to Seville to show it was safe. The train arrived without incident.
Spain was once used as a rear base by Islamic militants, but having failed with attempted attacks in other European countries, "sleeper cells" were now carrying out operations in Spain, El Pais said. Police suspected 200 people in Spain of cooperating with radical Islamic groups, it said.
Spain is holding 15 people, many of them Moroccan, over the March 11 attacks.
Interpol said it had issued international wanted persons notices for six suspects in the Madrid train bombing investigation. It sent the notices to police in 181 countries after a Spanish judge signed arrest warrants for the five Moroccans and one Tunisian.
"With terrorism an ever-increasing threat, efficient cooperation between the world's police is essential," Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said in a statement.
Spanish authorities, anxious to reassure citizens, ordered the army to help protect the high-speed railway and other key installations, using helicopters and armored vehicles.
In Britain, a Department of Transport spokesman said the department had taken note of developments in Spain.
"What has been announced in Madrid today will be considered with a view toward lessons to be learned, and this will be fed into our security regime," he said.
Several newspapers reported that the Spanish embassy in Egypt had recently received a letter signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades and al Qaeda threatening to attack embassies, consulates and other Spanish interests in north Africa and the southern and eastern Mediterranean region.
The letter said the attacks could be avoided if Spain withdrew its soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan in the next four weeks, El Mundo newspaper reported.
A letter sent to a London-based Arabic newspaper on March 11 claimed responsibility for the Madrid train attacks on behalf of the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades -- a group that aligns itself to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
Original Story
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