| 11 March 2004 Madrid Train Bombings |
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The 2004 Madrid train bombings were a series of coordinated bombings against the Commuter Train system of Madrid , Spain on the morning of 11 March 2004 , which killed 192 people and wounded 2,050. RESPONSIBILITY Immediate reactions to the attacks in Spanish media assumed ETA involvement. Although ETA has a history of mounting bomb attacks in Madrid, planting delayed-action bombs to kill rescue workers and using booby traps (such as explosives in wallets), as well as also having attempted to attack trains, the 11 March attacks were on a scale far exceeding anything previously attempted by a European militant organisation. This led some to point out that the tactics used were more typical of Islamic militant extremist groups, perhaps with a certin link to Al-Qaeda . Because the bombs were 3 days before the general elections in Spain, all the situation was fulled with political interpretations, impossible to discuss in wikipedia. Observers also noted that ETA customarily issues warnings before its mass bombings and that there was no warning for this attack. Europol director Jürgen Storbeck commented that the bombings "don't correspond to the '' Modus Operandi '' which ETA has adopted up to now". On Saturday, 13 March, when a number of Moroccans were arrested for the attacks, it was confirmed that the attacks came from an Islamic group. On April 3, 2004, in Leganes, south Madrid, four Arab terrorists blew themselves up, killing one special assault police and wounding eleven policemen. According to witness and media other terrorists escaped on that day. REACTIONS Immediate At 08:00 emergency relief workers began arriving at the scenes of the bombings. The police reported "numerous victims" and spoke of 50 wounded and several dead. By 08:30 SAMUR, the emergency ambulance service, had set up a "field hospital" at a sports facility at Daoiz y Velarde. Hospitals were told to expect the arrival of many casualties. Bystanders and local residents helped relief workers. At 08:43 fire fighters reported 15 dead at El Pozo. By 09:00 the police had confirmed the death of at least 30 people; 20 at El Pozo and about 10 in Santa Eugenia and Atocha. Also at 08:00, a "cage operation" (''operación jaula'' in Spanish), designed to prevent terrorists from fleeing the city went into effect and started affecting transportation in, out and around the city. At 08:45 RENFE , the national railway operator, shut down all rail traffic in to and out of Madrid, and Line 1 of the Madrid metro was closed for security reasons. At 08:56 the police sealed off all streets adjacent to Atocha and evacuated the station. At the same time, RENFE closed the stations at Chamartín and Príncipe Pío, the other train stations in Madrid. Consequently, all railway traffic to and from Madrid was shut down, including commuter, regional, and intercity trains as well as the high-speed AVE service to Seville . International rail traffic to and from Madrid was also interrupted due to security concerns, although trains to and from France departed from Chamartín , Madrid's second largest train station. According to the French SNCF , this was done at the request of the Spanish authorities. RENFE organized alternative transportation, and moved 3,000 passengers by road. Around 18:30, traffic to and from Chamartín and Príncipe Pío was restored, including some commuter rail lines and northbound national and international traffic out of Chamartín. In France, the Vigipirate plan was upped to the orange level. In Italy, the Government declared a state of high alert. A blood donation bus, which had already been parked in the Puerta del Sol for a number of days, became inundated with donors, with several hundred queuing to offer their assistance. Social On 12 March the Spanish went out to the street to protest against the bombings, in a government-organised demonstration to condemn ETA, who at the time were being blamed for the attacks. The rest of Spain and many cities from all over the world also protested. Vigo, which has a population of only 300,000 inhabitants, saw 400,000 demonstrators on its streets. The protests were peaceful, and included members of the leading political parties marching together down Paseo de Castellana in solidarity against terrorism. More than 2 million people convened on Madrid 's streets screaming: "not everyone is here, 200 are missing, we will never forget you".
The following day, a number of Moroccans were arrested and it became evident that ETA were not behind the attacks, and that Prime Minister Aznar and his government had manipulated the media, asserting ETA as the head of the operation though there were a number of clues that pointed to Al-Qaeda, or at least an Islamic involvement. Again, the people of Madrid took to the streets, mainly congregating on Puerta del Sol, where there are a number of government buildings. This time the mood was not peaceful. The group that had congregated on Puerta del Sol chanted and made an all-round racket, bashing bottles and dustbin lids, in a demonstration of anger towards Aznar. The conduct of the protestors on the Saturday was strictly speaking illegal: with a General Election the following day, the Saturday was designated a 'day of contemplation' (día de contemplación), during which all political activism is banned. Rumours circulated afterwards, and were propogated by film director Pedro Almodovar , that Aznar had approached the king and asked for the election to be postponed, to which the king responded that this would constitute a Coup D'etat . Aznar's party the Partido Popular have since threatened to sue Almodovar for his comments. {Link without Title} Political The attacks came three days before the suspended all electoral campaigning. Shortly after, Mariano Rajoy , the People's Party candidate for prime minister, cancelled all his electoral activity for the day. The opposing Socialist Party cancelled all campaigning at 08:59. At 09:02 Prime Minister Aznar also cancelled all public appearances. Prime Minister Aznar spoke with and Javier Arenas and Interior Minister Acebes. A decree declaring three days of official mourning was issued by the government, and demonstrations were called for Friday evening in cities across the country, under the motto "With the victims, with the constitution and for the defeat of terrorism." The Catalan government led by Pasqual Maragall also declared official mourning in Catalonia . The Government chosen motto, was very criticized by all the opposition, because "with the Constitution" inclusion in the motto, implied that the bombs were set by the Basque ETA , while many in the opposition believe that it was made by a islamic group in retaliation for having the Spanish government troops in Iraq at that moment. After almost 40 years of terrorism by the Basque ETA, the first thought of the majority of the Spanish citizens was blaming them (although when little by little more details were known, other hypothesis arouse). The first government official to make an open public statement, two hours after the attacks, was Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu , head of government in the Basque Country . He unequivocally blamed ETA and said, "those who commit these atrocities are not Basque" and "ETA writes its own ending with terrible actions". In another early public appearance, Interior Minister Acebes pointed in unambiguous terms to ETA, although by the end of the day he was forced to retract his accusations and admit, "no possibilities have been discarded". The head of the Catalan government Maragall said, "We are all ''Madrileños'' today," and continued: "if terrorists intended to divide us, they will have achieved the exact opposite, and the best way to reject terror is to vote on Sunday." Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira of the Catalan nationalist party, the Republican Left Of Catalonia , who had recently come under fire for secretly meeting with ETA and advocating dialog, said that he would not communicate with ETA again, but that someone else should do so to prevent them from committing any more bloodshed. "We thought we had already seen everything, but unfortunately that was not the case," he lamented. By the time Aznar and the King had made their public statements in the afternoon, doubts over ETA's involvement were substantial enough that both of them avoided naming a culprit, and they referred just to "terrorists". Aznar insisted on the need to stay the course, echoing his Interior Minister's earlier remarks. Many people think that, due to public media manipulation by the Aznar government (which supposedly blamed ETA in order to hide Al-Qaeda evidence because it would mean that the massacre was in response to the Iraq war in which Spain took part), his party lost the Sunday Elections . National Most TV stations reported the attack during their regular morning news programs, starting around 08:00. The program on (national) and Telemadrid (regional) did not break for commercials at all during the day. All TV stations replaced their logos with black ribbons overlaid on the Spanish flag at 18:00, visible in the upper-right corner of the television screen. People across Spain flocked to hospitals and mobile in Madrid, for identification by their relatives. Riay Tatary Bakry, president of the Union Of Muslim Communities In Spain , stated on 1 April 2004 that his organisation has no plan to publicly urge mosques to step up their battle against terrorism. He said the union will continue to work privately with government officials. International Sympathy poured in from governments worldwide immediately following the bombings, led by Spain's partners in the European Union ; France raised its terror alert level, and in Athens security was tightened at train stations and the Spanish Embassy. Similar measures were adopted in Italy . World leaders were united in their condemnation of the attacks. The United States , the United Kingdom and Russia said the attacks demonstrated the need for a toughened resolve against terrorists. Queen Elizabeth II sent a message of condolence to the Spanish King on behalf of the British people. A PLO / Palestinian National Authority official also condemned the attacks targeting civilians. U.S. President George W. Bush called Prime Minister Aznar and King Juan Carlos to offer his condolences to the Spanish people and condemn the "vicious attack of terrorism." He expressed "our country's deepest sympathies toward those who lost their life...I told them we weep with the families. We stand strong with the people of Spain." The U.S. Senate observed a moment of silence and unanimously passed a resolution expressing outrage and urging Bush to "provide all possible assistance to Spain" in pursuing those responsible for the attacks. Bush led a memorial service at the Spanish ambassador's residence in Washington and gave an interview with a Spanish television network the following day. {Link without Title} European Commission President Romano Prodi called the attack "ferocious and senseless". The European Parliament observed a minute of silence; its president Pat Cox expressed the parliament's condolences, and a resolution was introduced proposing 11 March as a European Day of Remembrance of Victims of Terrorism. Pope John Paul II condemned the bombings in a message to Catholic church leaders in Spain. Many nations extended offers of material support to the Spanish government. By 17 March , governments around Europe had voiced their concerns that the Spanish government had jeopardized their security by feeding them false information about ETA's involvement. An unprecedented rebuke of Prime Minister Aznar by his peers is expected at an upcoming European Union summit. The UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1530 condemning the bombings. This happened early in the day and, at the request of the Spanish government, the resolution accused ETA unambiguously of being responsible. The resolution "condemns in the strongest terms the bomb attack in Madrid, Spain, perpetrated by the terrorist group ETA." After al-Qaeda involvement became clear, Germany and Russia voiced their concern over Spain's hasty assurances. On 15 March , Spain's ambassador submitted an unapologetic letter updating the Security Council on the progress of the investigation, repeating that the Spanish government had "the strong conviction" that ETA was involved. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said, "I think there is a lesson here for everybody, including the council members". The human rights group Amnesty International condemned the attack saying that attacks targeting civilians could never be justified. The organisation also pointed out that killing of civilians on such a scale may constitute a Crime Against Humanity . UEFA and the Spanish Government and Football Federation decided that Spanish football teams due to play matches on 11 March and 12 should do so, lest they give the impression that the militants had disrupted normal life, and the teams complied with this decision. Out of respect for the victims, members of Spanish football teams wore black armbands. The Spanish Government and Football Federation asked that all games involving Spanish teams begin with a moment of silence for the victims. Leaders across the world sent letters of mourning to King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister José María Aznar . Most EU countries declared 12 March a day of national mourning as a sign of solidarity. There were demonstrations in cities across Europe and the Spanish -speaking world on 12 March , including Brussels , Paris , Lisbon , Helsinki , Geneva , Berlin , Stockholm , Buenos Aires , Mexico City and Bogotá . Cuban President Fidel Castro was more critical, however. Speaking during a television interview on 13 March 2004 in Havana , Castro accused Spain's government of deceiving its citizens over the Madrid train bombings for electoral gain. He went on to assert that Prime Minister José María Aznar had known an Islamic group was behind the explosions on 11 March , but preferred to blame ETA ahead of the general elections which were due just three days away. Germany too condemned Aznar, who had been kept in the dark about the fact that the explosives used were not of the type used by ETA. {Link without Title} Aznar has been accused of jeopardising international security by claiming that the perpetrators were ETA - therefore a national problem - rather than Al-Qaeda, which would have made the problem an international one. Germany hastily arranged an urgent meeting of European Union security chiefs on 14 March 2004 as possible al-Qaeda involvement in the Madrid bombings set alarm bells ringing across the world. On the same day, Queen Elizabeth II asked that the Spanish national anthem be played during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. The attacks also reawakened fears of terrorism amongst investors with most European Stock Market s falling between two and three percent on 11 March . Stocks dropped in London and in New York, with the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average diving after speculation of involvement by al-Qaeda. Airline and tourism related stocks were particularly affected by sharp declines in share prices. In Tokyo , stocks opened sharply lower the next day. On 15 March , at the request of Irish leader Bertie Ahern , then President of the European Council , all of Europe observed three minutes of silence at noon Central European Time (CET). SEE ALSO
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