TOLD YOU SO....
Berlusconi blames ETA for attacks
AP, Reuters
Thursday, March 18, 2004
'Aznar called it right,' Italian leader asserts
ROME As investigations into the deadly bombings in Madrid continued to point Wednesday toward Islamic extremists, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy roundly accused the Basque separatist movement ETA of involvement.
"I am convinced that Aznar called it right," said Berlusconi, a staunch ally of the outgoing prime minister of Spain, José María Aznar, whose party was trounced in the general election last Sunday.
Spanish public opinion turned against Aznar's government after it appeared to rush to blame ETA for the attacks despite evidence pointing to the involvement of Islamic extremists intent on revenge for Spain's support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
"I am convinced that in some way ETA had a role in the March 11 attacks. Let's look at it, the technique is too refined, the timing, the attacks happening at the same time," Berlusconi told reporters, adding that he was expressing a personal feeling and that he had "no proof."
"This whole story doesn't convince me," said Berlusconi, who did not rule out the involvement of Islamic extremists. "Deep down inside, I cannot get rid of the doubt that ETA had some role."
The Italian interior minister, Giuseppe Pisanu, echoed Berlusconi's belief that a combination of Islamic and domestic terrorists may be responsible, saying it was "very likely" that the bombers had local help.
"It is difficult to imagine an operation like the Madrid attacks being carried out without the contribution of vast local involvement," Pisanu said in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. "This concerns me because it would demonstrate that Islamic terrorism can find accomplices in Europe, not only on the extremist fringe of 17 million Muslim immigrants, but also in national terrorism."
Berlusconi's comments, made to a handful of journalists late Tuesday, were carried in several Italian dailies Wednesday and follow an apology from Aznar's Popular Party to the UN Security Council, which had been persuaded to blame ETA for the bombing.
The Italian prime minister said the clues pointing to Islamic extremists acting alone in the Madrid attacks were "too suspicious."
"The fact that they left behind little clues here and there is too suspicious. Does it seem likely that a terrorist would leave his rucksack with a mobile phone behind?" he said. "And, just by chance, in the van there's even an audiocassette with verses from the Koran."
Italian antiterrorist investigators, meanwhile, said that cells of Muslim militants, some willing to carry out suicide bombings, exist in several areas of Italy and may be planning an attack.
Excerpts of a recent secret report by a special section of the Carabinieri paramilitary police were published by the newspaper La Repubblica on Wednesday. The 1,000-page document warned that at least 80 militants were clustered in cells dotted throughout Italy.
"Some, if called on, have declared that they are willing to blow themselves up for the cause," the report said.
The report said some cell members were responsible for mobilizing so-called "sleepers" to participate in attacks. (AFP, Reuters)
iht.com
How come nobody briefed marplot/whistleblower Berlusconi on the official line? Don't you have any CIA liaison officer in Rome? LOL... I told you: over here in Europe, crisis management is much messier than in proto-/Judeo-fascist America.
Gus |
