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Responsbility by group who claimed eastcoast blackout Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.baynews9.com/site/content/35742.htmlAn Arabic-language newspaper in London said it received an e-mail claim of responsibility in the name of al Qaeda from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade.
While it has claimed previous attacks blamed on al Qaeda, the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade has also claimed responsibility for the U.S. power blackout last summer, a claim dismissed by terror experts.
http://www.baynews9.com/site/content/35742.html
Death toll rises in Madrid Spain.Friday, March 12th
A baby has become the latest casualty from yesterday's bombing attacks on the train system in Madrid, Spain.
Hospital officials say the seven-month-old girl died today, raising the number of deaths from the attacks to 199. The baby's mother is apparently hospitalized and her father is missing. About 1400 were wounded in the attacks.
Spain's foreign minister tells a French radio station (R-T-L) that authorities have no information to back up news reports that a suicide bomber's body was found among the dead.
A Spanish police source says investigators working through the night have removed samples from the bombing sites for analysis. Another official says they're ``analyzing absolutely everything''
and that all sectors of the police force are involved.
Funerals for the victims will begin later in the day. Relatives gathered at a makeshift morgue in a Madrid exhibition hall to identify the remains of their loved ones.
Red Cross officials said DNA and dental records would have to be used to identify some of the remains.
The process of identification is expected to speed up Friday when a team of forensic experts from Israel arrives in Madrid to assist Spanish officials.
While a group claiming to represent al Qaeda said it was behind the attack, intelligence sources have consistently told CNN that the group does not speak for al Qaeda, and is unreliable.
Spanish officials are blaming ETA, a Basque separatist group which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes said while ETA remains the prime suspect, authorities cannot rule out the possibility the bombings "might be linked with the Arab world."
The Madrid explosions occurred Thursday shortly before 8 a.m., when four separate trains at three different stations were rocked by blasts along the southern part of Madrid's rail network.
Acebes said there were a total of 10 explosions at the Santa Eugenia, El Pozo and Atocha stations -- three other bombs were found and detonated by police.
Authorities are also investigating a van found with seven detonators and an Arabic tape of Koranic teachings in a Madrid suburb, Acebes said.
The tape contained no threats and is available commercially.
The van was stolen last month, and authorities were led to it by a tip from the public, according to the interior minister.
The bombings came two and a half years to the day after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.
Countries across the world expressed their outrage.
Al Qaeda had previously threatened any country that allied itself with the United States in the war against Iraq. Spain has been a key U.S. ally.
An Arabic-language newspaper in London said it received an e-mail claim of responsibility in the name of al Qaeda from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade.
While it has claimed previous attacks blamed on al Qaeda, the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade has also claimed responsibility for the U.S. power blackout last summer, a claim dismissed by terror experts.
The Madrid attack came ahead of Sunday's general election in which Spain's conservative ruling Popular Party which has taken a hard-line stance against ETA -- is currently leading in the polls.
After the blasts, all political parties announced they were suspending campaign rallies ahead of the election.
Aznar addressed the nation and condemned ETA, saying they must be crushed and that there will be "no possible negotiation with these killers."
"March 11, 2004, now holds its place in the history of infamy," he said.
The scale of the attack is unlike anything ETA has ever carried out. ETA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
Before Thursday's attack, the highest death toll in any ETA-linked attack was in 1987 when 21 were killed in a Barcelona supermarket blast.
Attacks blamed on or claimed by ETA over the last three decades have killed 800 people in Spain.
The group has been fighting for an independent homeland in northern Spain.
Authorities also say ETA usually warns authorities before an attack, and claims responsibility for its actions.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All right reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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