How about enforcing Israel's antiterrorist warfare in Spain?
Perhaps Spain's PM Jose Maria Aznar should emulate the Israelis --let's bomb Guernica! let's pound the hell out of Bilbao! let's blow up the houses belonging to the ETA terrorists' families!
Spain rail blasts: 62 dead
Thursday, March 11, 2004 Posted: 4:45 AM EST (0945 GMT)
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- At least 62 people have been killed and 50 wounded in a series of explosions on Madrid's railway network at the height of morning rush hour, Spain's interior ministry says.
Three explosions ripped through a train entering Madrid's main Atocha station, causing the majority of the casualties, according to Spain's SER radio.
Witnesses at three stations -- Santa Eugenia, El Pozo and Atocha -- reported four explosions across southern Madrid to CNN's Spanish-language sister network, CNN+.
Video of the scene showed the wreckage of the train at Atocha, broken into pieces by the force of the explosions.
The train was arriving from the eastern Madrid suburb of Alcala de Henares, SER reported.
The first blast at Atocha happened at 7:30 a.m. (1:30 a.m. ET) in a vacant train car, resulting in no injuries, SER reported.
Soon after, the second explosion hit the occupied train, causing most of the casualties, according to SER.
Medical staff have set up a field hospital to treat the wounded and buses have been mobilized -- in addition to ambulances -- to transport the wounded to hospitals.
So far, there has been no claim of responsibility. However, initial speculation is falling on the Basque separatist group, ETA, ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections.
Basque MP Gustavo Aristegui told CNN: "All the indications are that ETA was responsible."
Spain's conservative ruling party -- which has taken a hard-line stance against ETA -- is currently leading in the polls.
Police -- who have foiled several recent bombing attempts by ETA -- were on high alert ahead of this weekend's vote.
The European Union and the United States have listed the ETA, which stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom, a terrorist group.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw offered his condolences for the attacks, calling them "a disgusting assault on the very principle of European democracy."
CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman contributed to this report.
cnn.com |
