you all everybody
Group: Members
Post: 705 of 1532
Member ID: 397
Joined: Oct. 5, 2003
Posted Thursday, March 11, 2004 at 11:18 AM
Post 1 of 14
I've copied and pasted an article from Reuters UK below....
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies believe it is too early to conclude who was behind rush-hour explosions in Madrid that killed at least 180 people, but see the attack as bearing hallmarks of both the Basque separatist group ETA and al Qaeda, a U.S. official says.
"It's going to be muddy for a while until the Spanish authorities get in there and start doing some forensics," the U.S. official said on Thursday.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the 10 simultaneous rush-hour blasts at three railway stations that also injured around 900 people. But Spain blamed ETA.
"There are characteristics of each," the official said, referring to ETA and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
"You have multiple attacks, multiple explosions in different locations in a short period of time which is very al Qaeda-ish," the official told Reuters. Al Qaeda has been blamed for bombing attacks on Western interests, including the September 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks on America.
"But ETA has long threatened tourists and commuters and they have attacked trains in the past, they have attacked rail stations in the past. They usually warn people in advance and that may not be the case here," the U.S. official said.
ETA usually targets Spanish government officials in its quest for a separate homeland, but also has warned that it would attack tourist sites in Spain, the official said.
Some of the still unanswered questions that could help determine who was responsible included whether suicide bombers were involved -- they are used by al Qaeda but not ETA. Or whether the bombs were placed on the trains."
OK, now I heard about this event this morning, and have since done a little research. Apparantly this is the worst terrorist activity in Western Europe in recent memory (I guess "worst" means highest body count). I didn't realise how little I know about the issues of the rest of the world. Spain is having an election in three days, you see...oh, and apparantly it's only been a democracy since 1976. I just think it's important people know about this, since it's just commuters on a train going to work or school that were blown up. I think it's terrible. I'm probably going to be studying more about Spain in the next few days. Sorry for the rambling. Carry on.
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies believe it is too early to conclude who was behind rush-hour explosions in Madrid that killed at least 180 people, but see the attack as bearing hallmarks of both the Basque separatist group ETA and al Qaeda, a U.S. official says.
"It's going to be muddy for a while until the Spanish authorities get in there and start doing some forensics," the U.S. official said on Thursday.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the 10 simultaneous rush-hour blasts at three railway stations that also injured around 900 people. But Spain blamed ETA.
"There are characteristics of each," the official said, referring to ETA and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
"You have multiple attacks, multiple explosions in different locations in a short period of time which is very al Qaeda-ish," the official told Reuters. Al Qaeda has been blamed for bombing attacks on Western interests, including the September 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks on America.
"But ETA has long threatened tourists and commuters and they have attacked trains in the past, they have attacked rail stations in the past. They usually warn people in advance and that may not be the case here," the U.S. official said.
ETA usually targets Spanish government officials in its quest for a separate homeland, but also has warned that it would attack tourist sites in Spain, the official said.
Some of the still unanswered questions that could help determine who was responsible included whether suicide bombers were involved -- they are used by al Qaeda but not ETA. Or whether the bombs were placed on the trains."
OK, now I heard about this event this morning, and have since done a little research. Apparantly this is the worst terrorist activity in Western Europe in recent memory (I guess "worst" means highest body count). I didn't realise how little I know about the issues of the rest of the world. Spain is having an election in three days, you see...oh, and apparantly it's only been a democracy since 1976. I just think it's important people know about this, since it's just commuters on a train going to work or school that were blown up. I think it's terrible. I'm probably going to be studying more about Spain in the next few days. Sorry for the rambling. Carry on.
That's so NA.
Quote from carligula on Mar. 11, 2004 at 1:43 PM
