Madrid bombings: The case against al Qaeda

By ANNE PENKETH

Spain has previously been singled out as a target by al Qaeda operatives in retaliation for the Aznar government's unstinting support of George Bush in his "war on terror" which was declared after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The hallmark of Osama bin Laden's organisation is the use of the suicide bomber, prepared to give his life in the war against symbols of western power.

Another striking characteristic of the Islamic fundamentalists is the lack of a claim. It took months before a video surfaced showing bin Laden gloating about the success of the suicide operation that destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center.


Usually, an al Qaeda attack is followed by complete silence from the organisation, as was the case in the November 2003 bombing of the British consulate in Istanbul.

On Thursday night, a letter purporting to come from al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the Madrid train bombings. The claim bore the signature "Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades".

But last night the Spanish Interior Minister, Angel Acebes, cast doubt on the authenticity of the claim.

"I myself have talked today with the British Interior Minister (David Blunkett) and they all call very much into question the credibility of that communique and therefore we have to be very cautious about it," he said.

"That organisation claims responsibility for all kinds of attacks every time there is a piece of news with a certain repercussion," Mr Acebes said.

Jonathan Eyal, the director of the Royal United Services Institute, pointed out that the Israeli authorities were used to spurious claims from previously-unknown organisations, which are "usually two men in an office with a fax machine."

Al Qaeda is known for the spectacular nature of its attacks, as illustrated by September 11 and the Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people in October 2002.

The Bali bombing was triggered remotely from a mobile phone - a similarity that Spanish investigators have noted in the case of the Madrid attacks.

Al Qaeda attacks are meticulously prepared with careful coordination and would include research about the timetables of the various trains.

Spain was considered to be Europe's central planning station for the 11 September attacks. One of the suicide pilots, Mohammed Atta, spent a week in Spain ahead of the attacks.

Some suspects detained in Spain after 11 September claimed under questioning that Spain´s role was limited to recruitment, indoctrination and fundraising. They emphatically denied that Spain was itself a target
for attack.

However, Bin Laden, in a broadcast shortly after 11 September referred to the former Islamic Kingdom of Al-Andalus in what is now Spain, which reached pinnacles of artistic glory and scholarship before being crushed by the crusading Catholic christian monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella who expelled all muslims from Spain after 1492.

This must be what was meant by "settling old accounts with Spain".

Mr Aznar's gungho support for President Bush in the war in Iraq has pushed Spain into the frontline as a possible target.

In the Casablanca bombings last May, when five coordinated killed dozens across the city, one of the principle targets was a Spanish cultural centre. At that time Spain conceded that its posture on the war in Iraq might have made it a target.

Spanish soldiers and diplomats have also been attacked in Iraq.

In previous al Qaeda attacks, although they may not have been thwarted, intelligence agencies have picked upchatter" suggesting that an attack was in the offing. But in the case of the Madrid train bombings, no such reports were made public.

Although al Qaeda has struck in Muslim countries, security services have managed to prevent all major al Qaeda attacks in the West since September 11, 2001, mostly by closely monitoring Islamic radical groups in their midst.

- INDEPENDENT