Al Qaeda claim obscures vote
ED MCCULLOUGH
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MADRID, Spain - Spaniards voted today in general elections thrown wide open by a reported Al Qaeda claim that it staged deadly rail bombings last week to punish the government for supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Protesters shouted “murderer” at the ruling party candidate as he cast his ballot.
Voter turnout was high, and many people said they went to the polls purely to show their fury at Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and his Popular Party for Spain’s worst terror attack.
Critics have said Aznar invited the attention of Osama bin Laden’s terror group by allying Spain with Washington in the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
Fueling anger were suspicions that the government withheld information in the investigation to avoid political fallout from the Thursday bombings, which killed 200 people and injured 1,500. The government had initially blamed the Basque separatist group ETA.
“I wasn’t planning to vote, but I am here today because the Popular Party is responsible for murders here and in Iraq,” said Ernesto Sanchez-Gey, 48, who voted in Barcelona.
Five hours after polls opened, 41 percent of registered voters had cast ballots, a 5.5 percent increase over four years ago, Spain’s electoral commission said.
Many Spaniards entered voting booths grim-faced, and some wore handwritten badges that said “peace.’’
“Spain has never voted in such a tragic situation. There’s a feeling of anguish, sadness, horror,” said Joaquin Leguina, a former president of Madrid’s regional government.
“I didn’t intend to vote, but changed my mind,” said Javi Martin, 30, who works for a TV station in Madrid. “And not because of the attacks, but because of the responsibility of the Popular Party. They gave out information drop by drop. It would have benefited them if it were ETA.’’
Evidence of Al Qaeda involvement grew after the government announced finding a videotape in a trash can Saturday on which a man says the Islamic terror group was punishing Spain for its support of the Iraq war. An Arabic-speaking man called a Madrid TV station to say the tape was there, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.
Earlier in the day, three Moroccans and two Indians were arrested over the bombings.
Spain’s El Pais newspaper, citing the interior ministry, reported that the Moroccans are linked to Abu Dahdah, the jailed alleged leader of Al Qaeda’s Spanish cell. Authorities in Morocco said Sunday they could not confirm that.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday it is too early to say whether Al Qaeda was behind the bombings.
“It’s just premature to make a judgment. I don’t think we know enough, and the Spanish are very good at these kinds of investigations. And I’m sure they’ll get to the bottom of it,’’ Powell said.
Before the attacks, polls gave ruling the Popular Party and its candidate, Mariano Rajoy, a 3-5 percentage point lead over the Socialists and their leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in the race for the 350-seat Congress of Deputies. Prime Minister Aznar is not seeking a third term; in the outgoing legislature, his party had 183 seats.
In the videotape, the male speaker says: “We declare our responsibility for what happened in Madrid,” according to a government translation of the statement delivered in Arabic. “It is a response to your collaboration with the criminals Bush and his allies.’’
The speaker notes that the bombings came exactly 21/2 years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Investigators were analyzing the tape to verify its authenticity.
Acebes said the government still had reservations about the credibility of the tape, which attributes the Al Qaeda claim of responsibility to a man named Abu Dujan al Afghani. The tape says he is Al Qaeda’s spokesperson in Europe, but the intelligence services in Spain, France, Britain and Portugal have not been able to verify that.
Police said they would invoke Spain’s anti-terrorism legislation and request five days, two more than usual, to interrogate the three Moroccans and two Indians arrested Saturday.
Acebes said the five were arrested in connection with a cell phone and prepaid phone card in an explosives-filled gym bag found on one of the four trains bombed Thursday.
The Socialists pointed to the government’s shifting version of events, which first focused blame ETA, but then included Islamic suspects after a van was found in the Madrid suburb where three of the four bombed trains originated. Inside were verses from the Qu’ran, and detonators.
A Basque daily Sunday published a statement by ETA in which the group denied for a second time its involvement in the attacks.
Twenty people in the Basque city of Bilbao told the Associated Press early Sunday that the bombings would not influence their vote — though all refused to say which party they planned to vote for.
The political campaign was bitter between Rajoy, 48, a veteran Cabinet minister under Aznar, and Zapatero, 43, a lawyer, member of parliament and his party’s general-secretary.
thestar.com
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