The Hindu : International : `Rail bomb matches Madrid explosives'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 04, 2004

International

International

`Rail bomb matches Madrid explosives'

By Vaiju Naravane

PARIS, APRIL 3. The 12-kg explosive device found on the rail track between Madrid and Seville late on Friday contained explosives identical to that used in the March 11 commuter train attacks that claimed 191 lives and injured 1500 persons, the Spanish Government said on Saturday.

The package spotted by an alert railway employee, was placed under the tracks and was linked to a detonator. The bomb targeted trains that originated in the Atocha station, where the worst of the March 11 carnage took place and was found between the small towns of Mocejon and Algodor in the central province of Toledo. However, the bomb had not been fully assembled and could not, therefore, have been activated.

The Spanish rail company Renfe today operated 11 extra trains that carried a third of the 15,000 passengers stranded overnight. The Interior Minister, Angel Acebes, said: "At the moment, the information I have is that the explosive — and (I say) this with caution and while awaiting an analysis — is the same as the one which was used on March 11." He insisted that "a system of permanent vigilance" had been introduced country-wide with the army, the police and Renfe cooperating closely with one another.

The Madrid train bombings, which have been blamed on extremists linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, sparked an outpouring of anger across Europe and led to E.U. leaders adopting a series of measures to step up the fight against terrorism.

So far, more than two dozen people have been arrested in connection with the March 11 attack, the majority of them Moroccans. There are two Indians amongst those arrested. Sources say the Indians were implicated because they sold the Moroccans telephone SIM cards used to power mobile phones to detonate the bombs.

Security has been heightened around Spanish interests in at least five Arab countries, including Egypt and Morocco.

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