Jo Sul
02-09-2005, 08:30
NOW they say "no place for them in politics or civil society -- bombs lead only to prison". These are the same folks who allowed terrorists to pressure them to leave Iraq.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/09/spain.blast/index.html
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A car bomb has exploded outside a convention center on the outskirts of the Spanish capital, Madrid, injuring 42 people.
CNN's Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman said there were no reported fatalities but police said 42 were hurt by the blast, with 24 of them taken to hospital.
Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon told a reporter for CNN sister network CNN+ that most of the injuries -- many caused by flying glass -- were light.
Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were to inaugurate a major art show -- ARCO -- at the convention center later in the day. The King was to have been accompanied by President Vicente Fox of Mexico.
Spain's Interior Ministry blamed the attack on the Basque separatist group ETA. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero condemned the bombing and told ETA that there was no place in politics for terrorism.
"I would like to say to the terrorists of ETA and those who support them that there is no place for them in politics or civil society -- bombs lead only to prison," he told a news conference in Warsaw.
The attack came hours after at least 10 suspected members of ETA were arrested in several Spanish cities. A week ago, the Spanish parliament threw out a proposal to give the Basque region autonomy.
A caller claiming to be with ETA warned of the bombing in phone call to the Basque newspaper Gara shortly before 9 a.m. (0800 GMT), the paper's Web site reported. Gara then warned authorities. The bomb exploded at 9:30 a.m. several hundred meters from the main convention center complex.
The blast did heavy damage to the facade of the six-story brick and glass office building housing the Spanish computer company Bull, located across the street from King Juan Carlos Park, and damaged 20 vehicles.
After the explosion a plume of white smoke could be been seen rising from the scene of the blast near the convention center, which is in a residential area in the north of the city and near Madrid's airport.
Goodman said the Interior Ministry estimated the car was packed with approximately 50 kilos (110 pounds) of explosives.
It was the most serious bomb blast in Madrid since March 11 last year, when 191 people were killed and hundreds injured in bomb attacks on four commuter trains first blamed on ETA but soon found to have been carried out by a group linked to al Qaeda.
ETA typically issues warnings ahead of bomb attacks. Goodman said the fact that there were only light injuries at the scene suggested that ETA had been deterred by a security cordon and police had had time to clear people from the area following the warning.
A number of police were among the injured, he said.
ETA stands for Euskadi ta Askatasuna, which in the Basque language of Euskara means Basque Homeland and Freedom.
Designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, the group has been blamed for more than 800 deaths since 1968. Around 400 ETA members are in prison.
About 2.5 million Basques live in the Pyrenees mountain region along the border between Spain and France -- where their ancestors have lived for 5,000 years.
Another half million live in France. Separatists want to establish a homeland encompassing the three provinces Spain officially recognizes as Basque plus another Spanish province, Navarra, and part of southern France.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/02/09/spain.blast/index.html
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A car bomb has exploded outside a convention center on the outskirts of the Spanish capital, Madrid, injuring 42 people.
CNN's Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman said there were no reported fatalities but police said 42 were hurt by the blast, with 24 of them taken to hospital.
Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon told a reporter for CNN sister network CNN+ that most of the injuries -- many caused by flying glass -- were light.
Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were to inaugurate a major art show -- ARCO -- at the convention center later in the day. The King was to have been accompanied by President Vicente Fox of Mexico.
Spain's Interior Ministry blamed the attack on the Basque separatist group ETA. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero condemned the bombing and told ETA that there was no place in politics for terrorism.
"I would like to say to the terrorists of ETA and those who support them that there is no place for them in politics or civil society -- bombs lead only to prison," he told a news conference in Warsaw.
The attack came hours after at least 10 suspected members of ETA were arrested in several Spanish cities. A week ago, the Spanish parliament threw out a proposal to give the Basque region autonomy.
A caller claiming to be with ETA warned of the bombing in phone call to the Basque newspaper Gara shortly before 9 a.m. (0800 GMT), the paper's Web site reported. Gara then warned authorities. The bomb exploded at 9:30 a.m. several hundred meters from the main convention center complex.
The blast did heavy damage to the facade of the six-story brick and glass office building housing the Spanish computer company Bull, located across the street from King Juan Carlos Park, and damaged 20 vehicles.
After the explosion a plume of white smoke could be been seen rising from the scene of the blast near the convention center, which is in a residential area in the north of the city and near Madrid's airport.
Goodman said the Interior Ministry estimated the car was packed with approximately 50 kilos (110 pounds) of explosives.
It was the most serious bomb blast in Madrid since March 11 last year, when 191 people were killed and hundreds injured in bomb attacks on four commuter trains first blamed on ETA but soon found to have been carried out by a group linked to al Qaeda.
ETA typically issues warnings ahead of bomb attacks. Goodman said the fact that there were only light injuries at the scene suggested that ETA had been deterred by a security cordon and police had had time to clear people from the area following the warning.
A number of police were among the injured, he said.
ETA stands for Euskadi ta Askatasuna, which in the Basque language of Euskara means Basque Homeland and Freedom.
Designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, the group has been blamed for more than 800 deaths since 1968. Around 400 ETA members are in prison.
About 2.5 million Basques live in the Pyrenees mountain region along the border between Spain and France -- where their ancestors have lived for 5,000 years.
Another half million live in France. Separatists want to establish a homeland encompassing the three provinces Spain officially recognizes as Basque plus another Spanish province, Navarra, and part of southern France.