Madrid muslims fearful if al Qaeda behind blast

3.00pm

MADRID - Proof that al Qaeda or Islamic militants carried out the Madrid train bombings would be a nightmare scenario for Muslim residents of Madrid who fear it could fuel a new wave of animosity towards them.

"Terrorism is blind, it simply seeks out the weakest people. We're victims too, and if it turns out to be al Qaeda, we'll be double victims," said Ahmed, a 38-year old Moroccan in Madrid.

Despite earlier saying the Basque separatist group ETA was the prime suspect, Interior Minister Angel Acebes announced on Saturday evening that three Moroccans and two Indians had been arrested in Madrid as part of the probe.

Acebes urged caution but said some of those arrested may have links to Moroccan militants.

As one of 300,000 Moroccans, Spain's biggest resident Muslim community, Ahmed said he was deeply saddened by the bombs on crowded trains which claimed 200 lives.

"We don't want it to be al Qaeda, just as the Basques don't want it to be ETA. But what difference does it make, knowing who it was? We're all affected," said the 13-year Madrid resident, who declined to give his full name.

High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon, an investigating magistrate who has led separate probes into al Qaeda and ETA, has said in court documents he believes al Qaeda had "sleeper cells" in Spain possibly awaiting orders to attack.

Spain has jailed two dozen al Qaeda suspects, including eight believed to have played a role in the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Last May, suicide bombers attacked a Spanish restaurant, a five-star hotel and a Jewish community centre in Casablanca killing 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers

Suspects in the Casablanca bombings and a 2002 synagogue bombing in Tunisia also have been arrested in Spain.

Lavapies, the city centre's most multi-racial district, is no exception to the sombre air enveloping the rest of Madrid.

"The people who carried out these attacks have no heart," said Mustafa, a Moroccan in his 40s, his voice rising with anger as he paced up and down a bar in the historic district.

Most of those interviewed in Lavapies hardly dared contemplate the possibility that al Qaeda may be to blame.

"We don't know who it is, we just have to count the bodies. They attacked the poorest people who were on the train at that time of the morning. Our people were killed too," Mustafa said.

Those most willing in Lavapies to fully express those fears came from non-Muslim countries.

"Not all Basques belong to ETA, nor all Arabs belong to al Qaeda. But if it turns out that al Qaeda is behind this tragedy people will turn against the Arabs around here," said Gema, a young shop assistant whose parents are from Vietnam.

Moroccans said their lives in Spain were pretty good despite a recent crackdown on illegal immigration. Lavapies is often the scene of random police checks for residency cards.

Asked if life will get worse if al Qaeda was behind Thursday's killings, Mustafa said: "I hope not Maybe they'll come and get me and they might get you too for talking to me."

If Muslim extremists planted the bombs, the prejudices of old Spain -- isolated under a dictatorship for almost 40 years until 1975 and relatively unused to immigrant residents until recently -- could surface.

In a history of thorny relations with their Muslim neighbours, parts of Spain were under occupation by Moors from North Africa for nearly 800 years until the Catholic monarchs reconquered the southern city of Granada in 1492.

In the 16th century, Muslims were forced to leave unless they converted to Christianity.

- REUTERS