Post by Carpy on Mar 11, 2004 23:43:56 GMT
Spanish PM vows to catch terrorists
The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has condemned the attacks in Madrid as "mass murder" and he vowed to hunt down the attackers.
Looking dejected after an emergency cabinet meeting, Aznar also sympathised with the families of the victims. "I want to tell them I feel their terrible anguish as if it were mine," Aznar said, reading from a statement. He took no questions.
The Spanish government has blamed the armed Basque separatist group Eta for the Madrid bomb blasts.
The explosives used were of the same type normally used by the Basque group, the Interior Ministry said.
"Eta had been looking for a massacre in Spain," Interior Minister Angel Acebes said after an emergency cabinet meeting, citing recent thwarted attacks.
"Unfortunately, today it achieved its goal."
He said security services knew it was Eta because the group attempted a similar attack on Christmas Eve, placing bombs on two trains bound for a Madrid station.
He also noted that on February 29, police intercepted a Madrid-bound van packed with more than 1,000 pounds of explosives and blamed Eta.
"It is absolutely clear and evident that the terrorist organisation Eta was looking to commit a major attack," Acebes said.
But Arnold Otegi, leader of Batasuna, an outlawed Basque party linked to the armed separatist group, denied it was behind the blasts and suggested "Arab resistance" elements were responsible.
The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has condemned the attacks in Madrid as "mass murder" and he vowed to hunt down the attackers.
Looking dejected after an emergency cabinet meeting, Aznar also sympathised with the families of the victims. "I want to tell them I feel their terrible anguish as if it were mine," Aznar said, reading from a statement. He took no questions.
The Spanish government has blamed the armed Basque separatist group Eta for the Madrid bomb blasts.
The explosives used were of the same type normally used by the Basque group, the Interior Ministry said.
"Eta had been looking for a massacre in Spain," Interior Minister Angel Acebes said after an emergency cabinet meeting, citing recent thwarted attacks.
"Unfortunately, today it achieved its goal."
He said security services knew it was Eta because the group attempted a similar attack on Christmas Eve, placing bombs on two trains bound for a Madrid station.
He also noted that on February 29, police intercepted a Madrid-bound van packed with more than 1,000 pounds of explosives and blamed Eta.
"It is absolutely clear and evident that the terrorist organisation Eta was looking to commit a major attack," Acebes said.
But Arnold Otegi, leader of Batasuna, an outlawed Basque party linked to the armed separatist group, denied it was behind the blasts and suggested "Arab resistance" elements were responsible.
