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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (126442)	3/17/2004 12:58:03 PM
From: redfish	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

For the last decade ETA has been using (and is known to have a large cache of) a form of compressed dynamite. The explosive used in the attack was a more tightly-controlled gel: "Reading from a text, the spokeswoman gave three reasons why ETA was the culprit, Boom said: No one had asserted responsibility, which followed ETA's style of not making claims for at least a week; the type of explosive was similar to that normally used by ETA; and there was no call beforehand warning of the attacks, another characteristic of ETA -- a point some journalists have disputed." msnbc.msn.com "Yesterday, Acebes went on national television to say the government still believed ETA carried out the attacks, even though the type of explosive that caused the blast -- a recent form of Goma Dos, which is manufactured in Spain -- hasn't been used by the group in more than a decade." quote.bloomberg.com

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (126442)	3/17/2004 1:02:09 PM
From: NickSE	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

...In the meantime, the Spanish authorities have come forward with more information about the kind of explosives used by the terrorists. Secretary of State for Security Ignacio Astarloa says the explosive known as "Goma 2 Eco" was used. This material is manufactured by Spanish firm UEE, and is a relatively new product which only came onto the Spanish market in 1999. It was found in one of the three bags recovered after the blasts. According to Mr Astarloa, ETA is not known to have ever used this specific type of explosive in the past. The same applies in the case of the detonators found; they are also produced by UEE, have not been on the market for very long and there is no record of ETA ever having used them. rnw.nl ~~~~~~ The dynamite was of a type -- Goma 2-eco -- similar to one previously used by ETA, he said. The bomb was reinforced with shrapnel to multiply its effect, Acebes said... ...He did not confirm a radio report earlier on Friday that said copper detonators, which are not generally used by ETA, were used in Thursday's attacks. The report on private radio station Cadena Ser quoted security sources as saying the components may point to the bomb having been set by an extremist Islamic group such as al Qaeda. Cadena Ser said the bombs, which blew up on four trains, were in backpacks and activated by mobile telephones that had had their alarms set for 7:39 A.M. (0639 GMT) on Thursday. The detonator in the unexploded bomb recovered by police contained a copper detonator whereas the detonators commonly used by ETA are made of aluminium, the report said. The backpack examined by investigators was picked up from one of the mangled trains and put together with other lost luggage after the blasts, Cadena Ser said. It was later found to contain an unexploded bomb, which police defused, according to the report. The backpack contained 10.2 kg (22 lbs) of Spanish-made plastic explosives and about one kg of screws and nails. The detonator was also Spanish-made. alertnet.org ~~~~~~~~~~~ Police sources said they have determined the dynamite used to make the bombs -- Goma 2 Eco, a gelatine explosive manufactured by the Spanish firm Union Espanola de Explosivos (UEE) -- was not stolen in Spain nor went missing here. Investigators have asked neighbouring countries to press their licensed distributors to see if they can pinpoint where the explosive came from. An estimated 100 to 150 kg (220 to 330 pounds) were used to make the 13 bombs: ten that went off, two that were blown up in controlled explosions, and one dud. reuters.co.uk