http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040311/D818EM8G1.html
A series of bombs hidden in backpacks exploded in quick succession Thursday, blowing apart four commuter trains and killing at least 192 people and wounding 1,200. Spain blamed Basque separatists but a shadowy group claimed responsibility in the name of al-Qaida for the worst terrorist attack in Spain's history. Cont...... Spain Says Suspect Van Had Arabic Tapes http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20040311/wl_nm/spain_explosions_investigation_dc Spanish investigators said Thursday they had found a van containing seven detonators and a tape in Arabic, the first suggestion of any possible militant Islamist link to Madrid bombings that killed 192 people. Cont..... Purported Qaeda Letter Says U.S. Strike Near Ready http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=GQKAXSJXJIK3ICRBAEOCFFA?type=topNews&storyID=4551138 A letter purporting to come from Osama bin Laden's militant Islamist al Qaeda network said a big attack on the United States was in the final stages of preparation, a London-based Arabic newspaper said on Thursday. "We bring the good news to Muslims of the world that the expected 'Winds of Black Death' strike against America is now in its final stage...90 percent (ready) and God willing near," the letter said. The letter, signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades which said it is part of al Qaeda, was sent to the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper. A copy of the letter was faxed to Reuters in Dubai. It was not possible to independently authenticate the letter. The United States blames al Qaeda for September 2001 attacks on New York on Washington that killed some 3,000 people. The Spanish government has said Basque separatists are the main suspect in the bombings of four trains early on Thursday that killed 192 people. But the country's interior minister held open the possibility of a militant Islamist link on Thursday evening when he told a newspaper conference that a suspect van had been found containing detonators and an Arabic-language tape. He said, however, militant Basque separatists remained chief suspects. The al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper received similar letters from the same brigade claiming responsibility on behalf of al Qaeda for a November bombing of two synagogues in Turkey and the August bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. Spain backed the United States in its invasion of Iraq, drawing the opprobrium of militant Islamist groups xponent Terror Maru rob _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
