Operation Death Train on: Qaeda

A Letter purporting to have come from the Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for train bombings in Spain on Thursday, calling them strikes agai...

A Letter purporting to have come from the Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for train bombings in Spain on Thursday, calling them strikes against 8216;8216;crusaders8217;8217;, a London-based Arabic newspaper said. The Spanish government has said Basque separatists were the main suspect in the bombings of four trains early on Thursday that killed nearly 200 people.

The London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper faxed to Reuters8217; Dubai bureau, a copy of a letter purporting to come from the Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades. The group aligns itself to Al Qaeda. 8216;8216;We have succeeded in infiltrating the heart of crusader Europe and struck one of the bases of the crusader alliance,8217;8217; said the letter which called the attacks Operation Death Trains. There was no way of authenticating the letter.

The 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 UN headquarters in Baghdad.

Basque separatist group ETA denied responsibility for the bombings, media reports said, citing phone calls from the armed group. 8216;8216;An ETA message has arrived saying that it bore no responsibility for the attack,8217;8217; ETB Basque public television said. ETA has claimed responsibility for past attacks through ETB.

In another pointer towards the Al Qaeda, private Spanish radio Cadena Ser said backpack bombs used in the deadly train attacks were set off by mobile phones and contained copper detonators, which are not generally used by ETA.

The report said the bombs were activated by mobile telephones which had had their alarms set for 7:39 am on Thursday. The detonator in an unexploded bomb recovered by police contained a copper detonator whereas the detonators commonly used by ETA are made of aluminium, the report said. The backpack contained 10.2 kg of Spanish-made plastic explosives. The detonator was also Spanish-made.

Spaniards mourned on Friday the deaths in the country8217;s worst guerrilla attack. Spanish papers said finding out who was responsible for 8216;8216;Our September 118217;8217; would be critical to Sunday8217;s general election.

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8216;8216;The important thing is to clarify what happened and bring the evidence to light so that Spaniards can go to the ballot box knowing who is the author of this massacre,8217;8217; the Right-leaning El Mundo said in an editorial comment.

The ruling Centre-Right Popular Party had campaigned on its hardline stance against ETA. But if the attacks were by Al Qaeda, it could be viewed as the price for Spain8217;s backing of the US-led war in Iraq. 8216;8216;If the hell unleashed is the result of Islamic fanaticism, we must look at Spain8217;s role in the Iraq war: An involvement which our citizens rejected,8217;8217; commentator Antonio Gala said.

Amid grief and revulsion, Spaniards placed candles and flowers at the Santa Eugenia station in Madrid where one of the blasts occurred. Millions were expected to march in the demonstrations, which took place in rain in much of Spain.

Political leaders in the Basque region were cautious about reading too much into the purported ETA messages. 8216;8216;This is a day of demonstration, of repulsion and condemnation8230; over the massacre of yesterday,8217;8217; Patxi Lopez, leader of the Socialist Party in the Basque Country, told reporters at the march in the largest Basque city of Bilbao.