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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (41081)	4/2/2004 11:43:36 AM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Bomb Is Found on Spanish Rail Line DALE FUCHS MADRID, April 3 — Less than a month after the commuter train terror bombings here, a package containing explosives was found today on the high-speed rail line linking Madrid and Seville, Spanish officials said. At a news conference today, the acting interior minister, Ángel Acebes, did not speculate on who might be responsible for planting the explosives. After the terror attacks that left 191 dead in Madrid on March 11, Mr. Acebes insisted that the Basque separatist group ETA was the main suspect, even as evidence pointed to militant groups linked to Al Qaeda. This week he confirmed that the investigation pointed to the Morocco-based Islamic Combatant Group, which authorities have linked to the suicide attacks last year in Casablanca, Morocco. The discovery of the explosives comes on the first day of the usual mass exodus from the Spanish capital for Holy Week celebrations. Those held in Seville are the country's most popular. It also coincided with the start of the new legislative session, in which the prime minister-elect, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will lead the Parliament. Mr. Acebes' Popular Party suffered a surprise defeat in elections that came three days after the bombings. The bag found today contained a 446-foot cable, a detonator and from 22 to 26 pounds of explosives, apparently dynamite, Mr. Acebes said. The explosives were similar to those used in the March 11 attacks, the newspaper El Pais reported today, quoting unidentified investigators. The package was found on the tracks near the town of Mocejón, Toledo. High-speed train service has been temporarily canceled while the police inspect the entire line, Mr. Acebes added. Passengers boarding the AVE fast train that links the two cities must already pass their baggage through metal detectors. The commuter train lines did not have such screening in place when the March 11 bombings occurred. This is not the first bomb scare since the March 11 terror attacks. On Thursday, the Interior Ministry announced that three letters containing explosive powder were sent to the directors of conservative Spanish news media, including the newspaper Razón and the Antena 3 television station. The letters were de-activated without injuries, the government statement said. Mr. Acebes said today that they were most likely the work of "anarchist groups," but that the investigation would proceed "with caution." He said no group had been ruled out. Mr. Acebes also announced today that French and Spanish officers in southern France had arrested the man believed to be the leader of ETA's military arm, Félix Ignacio Esparza Luri. The Basque separatist group is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its three-decade armed fight for an independent state in parts of northern Spain and southern France. nytimes.com lurqer