Probe into Madrid train bombings uncovers no link to Al-Qaeda

A two-year probe into the Madrid train bombings concludes the Islamic terrorists who carried out the blasts were homegrown radicals acting on their own rather than at the behest of Osama bin Laden8217;s Al-Qaeda network, two intelligence officials said.

Spain still remains home to a web of radical Algerian, Moroccan and Syrian groups bent on carrying out attacks and aiding the insurgency against US troops in Iraq, said a Spanish intelligence chief and a Western official involved in counterterrorism measures in Spain. The intelligence chief said there were no phone calls between the Madrid bombers and Al-Qaeda and no money transfers. The Western official said the plotters had links to Islamic radicals in Western Europe, but the plan was hatched and organised in Spain.

8216;8216;This was not an Al-Qaeda operation,8217;8217; he said. 8216;8216;It was homegrown.8217;8217;

The attack has been frequently described as Al-Qaeda-linked since a man who identified himself as Abu Dujan al Afghani said he was Al-Qaeda8217;s 8216;8216;European military spokesman8217;8217;, claimed responsibility in a video. 8212;AP