Spanish PM Vows to Catch Bombers

Ten bombs in total exploded during Thursday morning's commute in the worst terrorist attack in Spain's history.

"March 11, 2004 has taken its place in the history of infamy," Prime Minster Aznar said in a national address.

He said those who set off the bombs would be hunted down and punished. He and other government ministries, as well as much of the country's news media, have pointed the finger at the Basque separatist group ETA.

"We will defeat them (ETA)," Aznar said. "We will succeed in finishing off the terrorist band, with the strength of the rule of law and with the unity of all Spaniards."

"Terrorist band" is a term the Spanish government regularly uses to refer to ETA.

Spain's Interior Ministry said tests showed the explosives used in the attacks were a kind of dynamite normally used by ETA. Aznar's office said the explosives were a material called titadine, a kind of compressed dynamite found in a van-bomb intercepted last month as it headed for Madrid, according to an Associated Press report.

On Feb. 29, police intercepted a Madrid-bound van packed with more than 500 kilos (1,100 pounds) of explosives traced back to the Basque separatists; two men were arrested on charges of terrorism. On Christmas eve, police thwarted an attempted bombing at Chamartin, another Madrid rail station, and arrested two suspected ETA members.

However, the government is also not ruling out that Islamic extremists could be involved in the attacks. In the town of Alcala de Henares east of Madrid a stolen truck was found that contained detonators and an audio tape with verses from the Koran in Arabic, according to Interior Minister Angel Acebes. He said all possibilities were being investigated, although ETA remains the chief suspect.

ETA Denies Involvement

A political group close to ETA, the banned Basque separatist party Batasuna, denied that it was responsible for the attacks. In the past, ETA attacks have been preceded by warnings from the group. Officials received no such warning before Thursday's explosions.

Speaking on Radio Popular Arnold Otegi blamed "Arab resistance" for the attacks, the worst in Spain's history. "Spain maintains occupation forces in Iraq and we should not forget that it had a responsibility for the war in Iraq," he said.

ETA, which stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom, was thought by many to be weakened and on its way out after the string of arrests and seizures of weapons.

The group, which police believe to number only several dozen hard-core militants, has been responsible for some 800 deaths since it began its armed fight for Basque independence in 1968.

Most of ETA's attacks have been assassinations or small-scale attacks. If the Thursday bombings are its work, it represents a remarkable increase in scale, ruthlessness and coordination.

"This is a step ahead of previous attacks by ETA. It could be a splinter group, it could be hardliners trying to extract as many casualties as they could," Paul Wilkinson, a terrorism expert at the University of St. Andrews, told Reuters.

Remote Control

The bombings are being described as the worst in Europe since the 1988 bombing of Pan-Am flight 103, which was blown out of the sky over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland.

Thursday's powerful explosions, which authorities say appear to have been set off by remote control, rocked several Madrid train stations during morning rush hour.

News reports said two bombs went off in a high-speed commuter train arriving at the busy downtown Atocha station at 7:30 a.m. local time. Blasts also ripped through two other stops -- Santa Eugenia and El Pozo -- the news agency Efe reported.

"People started to scream and run, some bumping into each other," Juani Fernandez, who was on the platform at Atocha when the bombs went off, told the Associated Press.

Spanish National Radio quoted witnesses saying they saw people lying on the ground and train cars ripped open. People in tears and bloodied could be seen running away from the station in panic.

The latest count is at least 190 people dead and more than 1,240 injured.

Hospitals appealed for people to donate blood. Make-shift emergency rooms were set up in neighboring sports centers, and taxis and buses were turned into ambulances to transport the severely wounded to nearby emergency rooms.

The country's rail authority RENFE has halted all commuter traffic into the capital. Politicians for the major parties have called off all campaigning ahead of the weekend's general election. Three days of national mourning have been declared.

World Condemnation

World leaders were quick to condemn the bombings and sympathy poured in from capitals around the globe.

"There is a general election due in Spain on Sunday. What happened today is a declaration of war on democracy," said European Parliament President Pat Cox in the legislature in Strasbourg, France.

In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said he was "deeply dismayed by this inhuman attack." He offered to send specialists from the country's Federal Criminal Office to Spain.

U.S. President George W. Bush spoke by telephone to the Spanish prime minister. "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," he told reporters.

The U.S., Britain and Russia emphasized that the bombs underlined the need for the international community to toughen its resolve against terrorism.

Demonstrations

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar called for nationwide protests against the Basque separatist group ETA in the wake of deadly train bombings that left 190 dead and more than 1,240 wounded.

"The government asks Spaniards to demonstrate tomorrow in the streets of all of Spain. Demonstrations have been called in all Spanish cities tomorrow at 7 p.m. under the slogan 'with the victims, with constitution and for the defeat of terrorism'," Aznar said.

Already on Thursday, Students help a spontaneous protest against ETA. They held up their hands which were painted white. The white hands have become a symbol of Spaniards' protests against ETA's violent tactics.