Same Explosives Used in Railway Bomb, Madrid Blasts
Train Service Restored to High-Speed Rail Line
By MAR ROMAN, AP
AFP/Getty
Spanish officials inspect the rail line Friday after the discovery of the bomb.
MADRID, Spain (April 3) - A bomb found under a train track was made of the same
type of explosives used in last month's Madrid terror bombings, Interior
Minister Angel Acebes said Saturday, as train service was restored on the
high-speed rail line.
Investigators have said the March 11 bombings were carried out with Spanish
dynamite - Goma 2 Eco. The attack killed 191 people and injured 1,800.
On Friday morning, authorities immediately stopped six bullet trains using the
Madrid-Seville line after the discovery of the 26-pound bomb under a track
about 40 miles south of Madrid. The bomb failed to detonate because it wasn't
properly connected, officials said.
No train was near the site when the bomb was discovered, state rail officials
said. But about 1,600 passengers left their trains and were taken to their
destinations by charter buses. Train service was restored Saturday.
''The explosives (found Friday) are the same as those used on March 11, but at
this moment the investigation is continuing ... to try to determine who is
behind it,'' Acebes told reporters, confirming an initial analysis.
Also Saturday, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that the Spanish Embassy
in Egypt received a letter from an Islamic militant group threatening new
attacks if Spain doesn't withdraw its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the letter, The Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri, a group that also claimed
responsibility for the March 11 attacks, threatened to strike against Spanish
diplomatic missions in North Africa and the Mediterranean region unless Spanish
troops are withdrawn in four weeks.
A Spanish diplomat in Cairo, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that
the embassy received a threatening letter signed by Abu Hafs after the commuter
train attacks last month.
The United States believes the Abu Hafs group lacks credibility and has only
tenuous ties to al-Qaida. In the past, the group has claimed responsibility for
events to which they were not connected - such as last summer's blackouts in
North
The discovery of the bomb on Friday rattled a country still traumatized by the
March 11 attacks in Madrid, which officials believe may have been carried out
by an Islamic extremist group from Morocco. Authorities on Friday stepped up
security on Spain's entire rail network and used soldiers to provide
surveillance.
Judge Teresa Palacio, a magistrate at the National Court, said Friday there was
no evidence pointing to either the armed Basque separatist group ETA or the
al-Qaida terror network in the failed attack. ETA has targeted Spanish rail
lines in the past.
Because the bag was dry and the ground was wet, authorities believe it was
placed at the scene Friday. A 450-foot-long cable attached to a detonator
looked new.
Acebes said Friday the bomber or bombers may have been scared away by security
guards as they planted the device. There was no warning about the bomb, he
said.
The line where the bomb was found mainly serves Spain's AVE bullet trains,
which have a maximum speed of 190 mph, although some slower trains also use it.
Spain's entire rail system will get a new security system employing
helicopters, four-wheel-drive cars and armored vehicles from the Spanish army.
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Also Friday, a Spanish judge charged a 15th suspect in the March 11 bombings on
four commuter trains, Spain's worst terror attack. The government has said its
investigation is focused on the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, which has
links to al-Qaida.
Six of the 15 suspects detained in the March 11 bombings are charged with mass
murder, while the remaining nine are accused of collaborating with or belonging
to a terrorist organization.
Otman El Gnaout, a Moroccan, was jailed Friday on terrorism charges. Eleven of
the 15 suspects are Moroccan.
Judge Juan del Olmo, the investigating magistrate, has issued international
arrest warrants for five Moroccans and a Tunisian, identified as Sarhane Ben
Abdelmajid Fakhet and described as the leader of the group suspected of
carrying out the attacks. America and Britain.
04-03-04 0744EST
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