ETA remain chief suspects, but Aznar rules nothing out

The Spanish Prime Minister has pledged to bring the perpetrators of yesterday's terror bombings in Madrid to justice, as the government continues to insist that the Basque separatist group ETA were behind the attacks.

It is now thought that up to four bombs exploded on a train shortly after 6.30am local time as it approached Atocha rail station. This was closely following by three bombs detonating at Atocha station, two blasts on a train at El Paso and a single explosion on a train at Santa Eugenia rail station. No warnings were issued prior to the bombings.

So far, 198 people have died and more than 1,400 people are known to have been injured.

However, Jose Maria Aznar has stressed that, while ETA remain the main suspects, all lines of inquiry remained open and he was not ruling anything out.

If ETA were responsible for the bombings it would represent a sea change in thinking and tactics for a group that has haemorrhaged activists and leadership figures of late, largely through policing successes. Conversely, the removal of such people may have left the door open for younger, more militant operators to take the group in a more deadly direction. ETA's political wing, Batasuna, continue to deny any ETA involvement.

In the past, ETA have concentrated on selected killings of establishment figures and small scale bombings on commercial and government buildings – usually prefaced by a warning. ETA's most deadly moment was 17 years ago, when an attack on a supermarket left 21 people dead.

Since its founding in the 1960s, the group has killed 800 people – for it to carry out a single, catastrophic attack resulting in the deaths of hundreds would be a step up in capability not previously hinted at in the group's history, some analysts suggest.

However, ETA remains active and has shown a willingness to target transport. Only last December police arrested two people suspected of attempting to bomb a train station in Madrid. And in February, more than 1,000lbs of explosives suspected to be destined for an attack on Madrid were intercepted by police

The scale, coordination and sophistication of the bombings have led many analysts to suggest that Al Qaida were involved. In Jose Maria Aznar, Spain has one of the US' most enthusiastic allies – which could point to a possible motive for Al Qaida.

Indeed, a group linked to Al Qaida has claimed responsibility for yesterday's terror bombings.

The Arabic news service Al-Jazeera has published on its website the translation of a letter which it said came from a "purported al-Qaida linked group".

The group, linked to the Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades, said that a "death squad" was responsible for the bombings.

The statement began: "The death squad succeeded in penetrating the crusader European depths and striking one of the pillars of the crusader alliance - Spain - with a painful blow. These bomb attacks were part of settling old scores with the crusader Spain for its war against Islam."

The statement concluded with demands for the release of its prisoners and a withdrawal of western troops from Islamic territory. It went on to promise global attacks from its cells and claimed that preparations for a strike against the US, which it called Operation "Wind of Black Death", were almost complete.

The brigade has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in the Turkish capital, Istanbul, last November, as well as the devastating attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad last August, and power cuts that hit London and eastern states of the US last year.

However, security experts have doubted the veracity of claims emanating from the group. The FBI's deputy assistant director, Larry Mefford, told a Senate committee that it was likely "no more than wishful thinking" for the Abu Hafs to claim involvement in the US power cuts.

Mr Mefford added: "We have no information confirming the actual existence of this group, which has also claimed on the Internet responsibility for the 5 August bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta and the 19 July crash of an airplane in Kenya."

(gmcg)