11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings

March 2004 Madrid Train Bombings
Atocha Station makeshift shrine march 2004.jpg
Candle tribute to the deaths.
Location Madrid, Spain
Date 11 March 2004
07:30 – 08:00 (UTC+1)
Attack type Backpack bombs
Deaths 191
Injured 2050 [11]
Atocha Station

The 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings (also known as 3/11 and in Spanish as 11-M) consisted of a series of coordinated bombings against the Cercanías (commuter train) system of Madrid, Spain on the morning of 11 March 2004 (three days before Spain's general elections), killing 191 people and wounding 1,755.[1] The official investigation by the Spanish Judiciary determined the attacks were directed by an al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell[2][3] although no direct al-Qaeda participation (only "inspiration"[4][5][6]) has been established.[7][8][9] Spanish nationals who sold the explosives to the terrorists were also arrested.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]

Controversy regarding the handling and representation of the bombings by the government arose with Spain's two main political parties (PSOE and Partido Popular (PP)), accusing each other of concealing or distorting evidence for electoral reasons. The bombings occurred three days before general elections which resulted in the defeat of the incumbent José María Aznar's Partido Popular (PP), which had been enjoying a small and narrowing lead in the opinion polls. [25] Immediately after the bombing leaders of the PP claimed evidence indicated the Basque ETA was responsible for the bombings, an outcome generally thought favorable to the PP's chances of being re-elected,[26][27] while Islamist responsibility would have had the opposite effect, as it would have been perceived a consequence of the PP government's involvement in the Iraq War, a policy already extremely unpopular with Spaniards.[28]

Nationwide demonstrations and protests followed the attacks.[29] Some analysts claim that the Aznar administration lost the general elections as a result of the handling and representation of the terrorist attacks, rather than the bombings per se.[30][31][32][33]

After 21 months of investigation, judge Juan del Olmo ruled Moroccan national Jamal Zougam guilty of physically carrying out the attack, ruling out any ETA intervention.[34] The September 2007 sentence established no known mastermind nor direct al-Qaida link. [35][36][37][38][39]

Contents

Description of the bombings

Plaque in memory of the casualties in the 11-M terror attack in Madrid

During the peak of Madrid rush hour on the morning of Thursday, 11 March 2004, ten explosions[40] occurred aboard four commuter trains (cercanías). All the affected trains were traveling on the same line and in the same direction between Alcalá de Henares and the Atocha station in Madrid. It was later reported that thirteen improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had been placed on the trains. Bomb-disposal teams (TEDAX) arriving at the scenes of the explosions detonated two of the remaining three IEDs in controlled explosions, but the third was not found until later in the evening, having been stored inadvertently with luggage taken from one of the trains. The following time-line of events comes from the judicial investigation.[41]

All four trains had departed the Alcalá de Henares station between 07:01 and 07:14. The explosions took place between 07:37 and 07:40 in the morning, as described below (all timings given are in local time CET, UTC +1):

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 the emergency ambulance service, SAMUR (Servicio de Asistencia Municipal de Urgencia y Rescate), had set up a field hospital at the Daoiz y Velarde sports facility. Bystanders and local residents helped relief workers, as hospitals were told to expect the arrival of many casualties. 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.

The total number of victims was 191. There were victims from 17 countries: 142 Spanish, 16 Romanians, 6 Ecuadorian, 4 Poles, 4 Bulgarians, 3 Peruvians, 2 Dominicans, 2 Colombians, 2 Moroccans, 2 Ukranians, 2 Hondurans, 1 Senegalese, 1 Cuban, 1 Chilean, 1 Brazilian, 1 French, and 1 Filipino. The total number of victims was higher than in any other terrorist attack in Spain, far surpassing the 21 killed and 40 wounded from a 1987 bombing at a Hipercor chain supermarket in Barcelona. On that occasion, responsibility was claimed by the Basque armed militant group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna ("Basque Fatherland and Liberty"), or ETA. It was also the worst incident of this kind in Europe since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988.

Further bombings spur investigation

A device composed of 12 kilograms of Goma-2 ECO with a detonator and 136 meters of wire (connected to nothing) was found on the track of a high-speed train (AVE) on 2 April.[42] The Spanish Judiciary chose not to investigate that incident and the perpetrators remain unknown. The device used in the AVE incident was unable to explode because it lacked an initiation system.[43]

Shortly after the AVE incident, police identified an apartment in Leganés, south of Madrid, as the base of operations for the individuals suspected of being the material authors of the Madrid and AVE attacks. The suspected militants, headed by Jamal Zougam, Serhane Abdelmaji "the Tunisian" and Jamal Ahmidan "the Chinese", were trapped inside the apartment by a police raid on the evening of Saturday 3 April. At 9:03 pm, when the police started to assault the premises, the militants committed suicide by setting off explosives, killing themselves and one of the police officers.[44] Investigators subsequently found that the explosives used in the Leganés explosion were of the same type as those used in the 11 March attacks (though it had not been possible to identify a brand of dynamite from samples taken from the trains) and in the thwarted bombing of the AVE line.[42]

Based on the assumption that the militants killed at Leganés were, indeed, the individuals responsible for the train bombings, the ensuing investigation focused on how they obtained their estimated 200 kg of explosives. The investigation revealed that they had been bought from a retired miner who still had access to blasting equipment.[45]

Five to eight suspects believed to be involved in the 11 March attacks managed to escape.[46] ABC reported in December, 2006 that the ETA reminded Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero about the March 11 2004 as an example of what could happen unless the Government considered their petitions (in reference to the 2004 electoral swing), although the source also makes it clear that ETA 'had nothing to do' with the attack itself.[47]

Aftermath

Main article: Aftermath of the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings

In France, the Vigipirate plan was upgraded to orange level.[48] In Italy, the Government declared a state of high alert.[49]

In December 2004 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero claimed that the PP government erased all of the computer files related to the Madrid bombings, leaving only the documents on paper.[50]

On 25 March 2005, prosecutor Olga Sánchez asserted that the bombings happened 911 days after 9/11 due to the "highly symbolic and qabbalistic charge for local al-Qaida groups"[51] of choosing that day. However, because 2004 was a leap year, 912 days had in fact passed between September 11th, 2001, and March 11th, 2004, though one could say there are 911 days between those days.

On 4 January 2007 El País reported that Algerian Daoud Ouhnane, who is considered to be the mastermind of the 11-M bombings, has been searching for ways to return to Spain to prepare further attacks,[52] though this has not been confirmed.[53]

On 17 March 2008. Basel Ghalyoun, Mohamed Almallah Dabas, Abdelillah El-Fadual El-Akil en Raúl González Peña, found guilty by the Audiencia Nacional before, were released after ruling Higher Court. This court also verified the release of the Egyptian Rabei Osman al-Sayed.

Responsibility

According to the Spanish judiciary, a loose group of Moroccan, Syrian, and Algerian Muslims inspired by al-Qaeda, and two Guardia Civil and Spanish police informants,[54][55][56] are suspected of having carried out the attacks. As of 11 April 2006, Judge Juan del Olmo charged 29 suspects for their involvement in the train bombings.[57]

No evidence has been found of al-Qaeda involvement,[58] although an al-Qaeda claim was made the day of the attacks by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades. However, U.S. officials note that this group is "notoriously unreliable".[59] On August 2007, al-Qaida claimed to be "proud" about the Madrid 2004 bombings.[60]

According to The Independent, "Those who invented the new kind of rucksack bomb used in the attacks are said to have been taught in training camps in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, under instruction from members of Morocco's radical Islamist Combat Group."[61]

According to Mohamed Darif, a professor of political science at Hassan II University in Mohammedia, the history of the Moroccan Combat Group is directly tied to the rise of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. According to Darif, "Since its inception at the end of the 1990s and until 2001, the role of the organisation was restricted to giving logistic support to al-Qaeda in Morocco, finding its members places to live, providing them with false papers, with the opportunity of marrying Moroccans and with false identities to allow them to travel to Europe. Since 11 September, however, which brought the Kingdom of Morocco in on the side of the fight against terrorism, the organisation switched strategies and opted for terrorist attacks within Morocco itself."[62]

According to scholar Rogelio Alonso "the investigation had uncovered a link between the Madrid suspects and the wider world of al-Qaida"[63].

According to scholar Scott Atran "There isn't the slightest bit of evidence of any relationship with al-Qaida. We've been looking at it closely for years and we've been briefed by everybody under the sun... and nothing connects them." [64]

According to the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, this is the only Islamist terrorist act in the history of Europe where international Islamists collaborated with non-Muslims.[65]

Allegations of ETA involvement

Immediate reactions to the attacks in Spanish media assumed ETA involvement, and government officials were ready to confirm such suspicions. Because the bombs were 3 days before the general elections in Spain, the situation had many political interpretations. The massacre also took place exactly two and a half years after the September 11 terrorist attack on America in 2001. (Others suggest, however, that terrorists wishing to emphasize a connection with 9/11 would not rely on such an oblique connection as its "2 1/2 year anniversary.")

Official statements issued shortly after the Madrid attacks, including lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe identified ETA as the prime suspect, but the group, which usually claims responsibility for its actions, denied any wrongdoing. [66] Later evidence strongly pointed to the involvement of extremist Islamist groups, with the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group named as a focus of investigations.[67]

Although ETA has a history of mounting bomb attacks in Madrid,[68] the 11 March attacks were on a scale far exceeding anything previously attempted by any European terrorist organisation. This led some experts to point out that the tactics used were more typical of Islamist militant extremist groups, perhaps with a certain link to al-Qaeda, or maybe to a new generation of ETA activists using al-Qaeda as a role model. Observers also noted that ETA customarily issues warnings before its mass bombings and that there had been no warning for this attack. Europol director Jürgen Storbeck commented that the bombings "could have been Eta ... But we're dealing with an attack that doesn't correspond to the modus operandi they have adopted up to now".[69]

Political analysts[26] believe ETA's guilt would have strengthened the PP's chances of being re-elected, as this would have been perceived as the death throes of a terrorist organisation reduced to desperate measures by the strong anti-terrorist policy of the Aznar administration. On the other hand, an Islamist attack would have been perceived as the direct result of Spain's involvement in Iraq, an unpopular war[28] that had not been approved by the Spanish Parliament.

Investigation

All of the devices are thought to have been hidden inside backpacks. The police investigated reports of three people in ski masks getting on and off the trains several times at Alcalá de Henares between 7:00 and 7:10. A Renault Kangoo van was found parked outside the station at Alcalá de Henares containing detonators, audio tapes with Qur'anic verses, and cell phones.[70]

The provincial chief of TEDAX (the bomb disposal experts of the Spanish police) declared on 12 July 2004 that damage in the trains could not be caused by dynamite, but by some type of military explosive, like C3 or C4.[71] An unnamed source from the Aznar administration claimed that the explosive used in the attacks had been Titadine (used by ETA, and intercepted on its way to Madrid 11 days before).[72]

On March 2007 TEDAX chief claimed that they knew that the unexploded explosive found in the Kangoo van was GOMA 2 ECO the very day of the bombings.[73] He also asserted that "it is impossible to know" the components of the explosives that went off in the trains, though on the other hand he asserted that it was dynamite. The Judge Javier Gómez Bermúdez replied "I can not understand" to these assertions.[74]

Examination of unexploded devices

A radio report mentioned a plastic explosive called "Special C". However, the government said that the explosive found in an unexploded device, discovered among bags thought to be victims' lost luggage, was the Spanish made Goma-2 ECO. The unexploded device contained 10 kg (22 lb) of explosive with 1 kg (2 lb) of nails and screws packed around it as shrapnel.[75] On the other hand it has been alleged by the chief coroner of the aftermath of the attacks that no shrapnel was found in any of the victims.[76]

Goma-2 ECO was never before used by al-Qaida, but the explosive and the modus operandi were described by The Independent as ETA trademarks, although the Daily Telegraph came to the opposite conclusion.[77]

Two bombs—one in Atocha and another one in El Pozo stations, numbers 11 and 12—were detonated accidentally by the TEDAX. According to the provincial chief of the TEDAX, deactivated rucksacks contained some other type of explosive. The 13th bomb, which was transferred to a police station, contained dynamite, although it did not explode because it was missing two wires connecting the explosives to the detonator. That bomb used a mobile phone (Mitsubishi Trium) as a timer, requiring a SIM card to activate the alarm and thereby detonate.[78] The analysis of the SIM card allowed the police to arrest an alleged perpetrator. On Saturday, 13 March, when three Moroccans and two Hindu Indians[79][80] were arrested for the attacks, it was confirmed that the attacks came from an Islamic group.[81] Only one of the five persons (the Moroccan Jamal Zougam) detained that day was finally prosecuted.[82]

Suicide of suspects

On 3 April 2004, in Leganés, south Madrid, four Arab terrorists died in an apparent suicide explosion, killing one G.E.O. (Spanish special police assault unit) police officer and wounding eleven policemen. According to witnesses and media, between five and eight suspects escaped that day.[46]

Security forces carried out a controlled explosion of a suspicious package found near the Atocha station and subsequently deactivated the two undetonated devices on the Téllez train. A third unexploded device was later brought from the station at El Pozo to a police station in Vallecas, and became a central piece of evidence for the investigation. It appears that the El Pozo bomb failed to detonate because a cell-phone alarm used to trigger the bomb was set 12 hours late.[83]

Conspiracy theories

Sectors of the People's Party (PP), now in opposition, as well as certain media, such as El Mundo newspaper and the COPE radio station,[84] continue to support theories relating the attack to a vast conspiracy to remove the governing party from power. Support for the conspiracy was also given by the AVT, Spain's largest association of victims of terrorism.

These theories speculate that ETA and members of the security forces and national and foreign (Morocco) secret services, were involved in the bombings.[85][86] Defenders of the claims that ETA participated in some form in the 11th of March attacks have affirmed that there is circumstantial evidence linking the Islamists with two ETA members who were detained while driving the outskirts of Madrid in a van containing 500 kg of explosives 11 days before the train bombings.[87]

Trial

Judge Juan del Olmo found "local cells of Islamic extremists inspired through the Internet" guilty for the 11th of March attacks,[88] not GIA or Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group. These local cells consist of hash traffickers of Moroccan origin, remotely linked to an al-Qaeda cell that had been already captured. These groups bought the explosives (dynamite Goma-2 ECO) from low-level thieves, police and Guardia Civil confidants in Asturias using money from the small-scale drug trafficking.[89]

According to El Mundo, "the notes on the Moroccan confidant 'Cartagena' prove that the Police had the leaders of the cell responsible for the 11th of March attacks under surveillance."[90]

Police surveillance and informants

In the investigations carried out after the bombings to find out what went wrong in the security services, many individual neglicences and miscoordinations between different branches of the police were found. The group dealing with Islamist extremists was very small and in spite of having carried out some surveillances, they were unable to stop the bombings. Also some of the criminals involved in the "Little Mafia" who provided the explosives were police informants and had leaked to their case officers some tips that were not followed up on.

Some of the alleged perpetrators of the bombing were reportedly under surveillance by the Spanish police since 2001.[91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106]

Controversies

Main article: Controversies about the 2004 Madrid train bombings

The authorship of the bombings remains a controversial issue in Spain. Sectors of the Partido Popular (PP) and some of the PP-friendly media outlets (primarily El Mundo and the Cadena COPE radio station), claim that there are inconsistencies and contradictions in the Spanish judicial investigation.

As Spanish and international investigations continue to claim the unlikeliness of ETA's active implication, these claims have shifted from direct accusations involving the Basque terrorist organization [12] to less specific insinuations and general skepticism [13].

Additionally, there is controversy over the events that took place between the bombings and the general elections held three days later.[107][108]

Reactions

Main article: Reactions to the 2004 Madrid train bombings

In the aftermath of the bombings there were massive street demonstrations across Spain to protest the train bombings.[109] The international reaction was also notable, as the scale of the attack became clearer.

The Madrid trial

The trial of 29 accused began on 15 February 2007. According to "El País", "the Court dismantled one by one all conspiracy theories" and demonstrated that any link or implication of the bombings with ETA was either misleading or without any foundation. During the trial the defendants withdrew their previous declarations and denied any involvement.[110][111][14]. According to "El Mundo" the questions about "who, why, when and where were the Madrid train attacks planified" are still "open", due to the fact that the alleged masterminds of the attacks were absolved. "El Mundo" also claimed -among other misgivings [112][113][114]- that the Spanish Judiciary reached "scientifically unsound" conclusions about the kind of explosives used in the trains [115], and that no direct al-Qaeda link was found, thus "debunking the key argument of the official version" [116]. Scholar Scott Atran described the Madrid trial as "a complete farce" [63].

Though the trial proceeded smoothly in its opening months, 14 of the 29 accused mounted a hunger strike in May, protesting against the alleged "unfair" role of political parties and media in the legal proceedings. Judge Javier Gómez Bermúdez refused to suspend the trial despite the strike, and the hunger strikers ended their fast on 21 May.[117]

The last audience of the trial was held on 2 July 2007. Transcripts and videos of the audiences are visible on datadiar.tv.[118]

On October 31 2007, the Audiencia Nacional of Spain delivered its verdicts. Of the 28 defendants in the trial, 21 were found guilty on a range of charges from forgery to murder. Two of the defendants were sentenced each to more than 40,000 years in prison, but Spanish law limits the actual time served to 40 years.[119][120]

See also

Specifically about the 2004 Madrid bombings

Other

Notes

  1. ↑ El Mundo
  2. ↑ (Spanish), [1] Spanish Indictment on the investigation of March 11
  3. ↑ The Times, February 15, 2007. Spain furious as US blocks access to Madrid bombing 'chief' The al-Qaeda leader who created, trained and directed the terrorist cell that carried out the Madrid train bombings has been held in a CIA “ghost prison” for more than a year
  4. ↑ The bombings were carried out by a group of young men, mostly from north Africa, who were, according to prosecutors, inspired by a tract on an al-Qaida-affiliated website that called for attacks on Spain
  5. ↑ who was behind the attack, which the magistrate who investigated the bombings said was inspired by, but not directed by, al Quaeda.
  6. ↑ What role did al-Qaida play?
  7. ↑ The Independent article:"While the bombers may have been inspired by Bin Laden, a two-year investigation into the attacks has found no evidence that al-Qa'ida helped plan, finance or carry out the bombings, or even knew about them in advance."
  8. ↑ Madrid Bombing Suspect Denies Guilt, The New York Times, February 15, 2007: The cell was inspired by al-Qaida but had no direct links to it, nor did it receive financing from Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, Spanish investigators say
  9. ↑ Al Qaeda, Madrid bombs not linked: Spanish probe, listed at borrull.org
  10. ↑ iiss.org
  11. ↑ jamestown.org
  12. ↑ MADRID: THE AFTERMATH: Spain admits bombs were the work of Islamists | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com
  13. ↑ Islamist Watch - Middle East Forum
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Madrid bombing 'mastermind' protests innocence", February 15, 2007, 1:59 PM ET Agence France-Presse, MyWire ([2](English)
  15. ↑ borrull.org
  16. ↑ guardian.co.uk
  17. ↑ newyorker.com
  18. ↑ aljazeera.net
  19. ↑ fas.org
  20. ↑ aijac.org.au
  21. ↑ opendemocracy.net
  22. ↑ intelligence.org
  23. ↑ atimes.com
  24. ↑ rand.org
  25. ↑ Opinion polls before the 2004 General Election
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 [3] Lago, I. (Universidad Pompeu Fabra) DEL 11-M AL 14-M: LOS MECANISMOS DEL CAMBIO ELECTORAL. Pgs 12-13.
  27. ↑ [4] Selected bibliography on political analysis of the 11-M aftermath.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 92% of the Spanish population expressed its disagreement with the intervention[5])
  29. ↑ Cf. Meso Ayeldi, K. "Teléfonos móviles e Internet, nuevas tecnologías para construir un espacio público contrainformativo: El ejemplo de los flash mob en la tarde del 13M" http://www.ull.es/publicaciones/latina/20041558meso.pdf
  30. ↑ El Periódico - 11M
  31. ↑ El Periódico - 11M
  32. ↑ El Periódico - 11M
  33. ↑ Madrid Bombings and U.S. Policy - Brookings
  34. ↑ Del Olmo sólo tiene ya un presunto autor material del 11-M para sentar en el banquillo / EL MUNDO
  35. ↑ "The biggest surprise was that two men originally accused of planning the attack were convicted only of belonging to a terrorist group, not of the Madrid killings..."We're very surprised by the acquittal," said Jose Maria de Pablos, spokesman for a victims' association. "If it wasn't them, we have to find out who it was. Somebody gave the order.""
  36. ↑ ETA, Irak, Zougam, el explosivo... y otras claves de la sentencia del 11-M
  37. ↑ El 11-M se queda sin autores intelectuales al quedar absueltos los tres acusados de serlo
  38. ↑ [http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/11/01/espana/1193885319.html El final del principio en la investigación del 11-M]
  39. ↑ El tribunal del 11-M desbarata la tesis clave de la versión oficial en su sentencia
  40. ↑ (Spanish),Sound of the second wave of bombs recorded in a Cellular Phone conversation
  41. ↑ (Spanish),Judicial Indictment - Downloadable in Spanish
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 The Terror Web (The NewYorker)
  43. ↑ Archivan las investigaciones sobre el intento de atentado contra el AVE
  44. ↑ Suspected Madrid bombing ringleader killed (CNN)
  45. ↑ Madrid bomb cell neutralised (BBC Europe)
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 "Madrid bombing suspects", BBC News (2005-03-10). Retrieved on 2007-10-31. 
  47. ↑ (Spanish),[6]
  48. ↑ France raises alert to orange (BBC News)
  49. ↑ The Terrorist Threat to the Italian Elections (Jamestown)
  50. ↑ Aznar 'wiped files on Madrid bombings', The Guardian, Tuesday 14 December 2004 via an article in El País
  51. ↑ (Spanish),Un factor "cabalístico" en la elección de la fecha de la matanza en los trenes, "El País", 2005 March 10th
  52. ↑ (Spanish)[7] El argelino huido tras perpetrar el 11-M preparaba nuevos atentados en España El País, 4 January, 2007
  53. ↑ http://www.metronieuws.nl/index.php?actie=nieuws&c=1&id=128930
  54. ↑ The Times Bomb squad link in Spanish blast
  55. ↑ (Spanish)Rafá Zouhier was a confident of the Guardia Civil before, during and after the bombings...José Emilio Suárez Trashorras was also a police confident -Rafá Zohuier era confidente de la Guardia Civil antes, durante y después de los atentados....José Emilio Suárez Trashorras...También era confidente de la policía-
  56. ↑ (Spanish)The two key collaborators of the Madrid train bombings were police confidents
  57. ↑ Suspects indicted in Madrid train attacks (OnlineNewsHous)
  58. ↑ The Independent article:While the bombers may have been inspired by Bin Laden, a two-year investigation into the attacks has found no evidence that al-Qa'ida helped plan, finance or carry out the bombings, or even knew about them in advance.
  59. ↑ CBS News. Madrid Massacre Probe Widens
  60. ↑ Al Qaeda dice sentirse 'orgullosa' de la destrucción que afectó a Madrid el 11-M
  61. ↑ Elizabeth Nash (2006-11-07). "Madrid bombers 'were inspired by Bin Laden address'", The Independent. 
  62. ↑ Mohamed Darif (2004-03-30). "The Moroccan Combat Group (PDF)" (PDF), Real Instituto Elcano. 
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 The worst Islamist attack in European history
  64. ↑ 21 guilty, seven cleared over Madrid train bombings
  65. ↑ (French),PDF Until now, there has never been any example of a terrorist action by international islamist made in collaboration with non muslims. French original: Il n'y a d'ailleurs à ce jour aucun example d’une action terroriste menée par des islamistes internationalistes en collaboration avec des non musulmans
  66. ↑ Voters Oust Spanish Government, CBS News On Sunday, a Basque-language daily published a statement by ETA in which the group for a second time denied involvement in the attacks.
  67. ↑ BBC on preparations for the trial
  68. ↑ Madrid Massacre Probe Widens (CBS News)
  69. ↑ From Bali to Madrid, attackers seek to inflict ever-greater casualties (The Guardian)
  70. ↑ Spain Campaigned to Pin Blame on ETA (Washington Post)
  71. ↑ (Spanish)Los TEDAX revisaron "dos veces" todos los vagones del 11-M sin encontrar Goma 2 ni la mochila de Vallecas (Libertad Digital)
  72. ↑ CBS News: Madrid Massacre Probe Widens. MADRID, March 11, 2004 The bombers used titadine, a kind of compressed dynamite also found in a bomb-laden van intercepted last month as it headed for Madrid, a source at Aznar's office said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Officials blamed ETA then, too.
  73. ↑ El 11M se supo que el explosivo era Goma 2 ECO
  74. ↑ El ex jefe de Tedax reconoce que sus análisis dejaron 'interrogantes' sobre el explosivo
  75. ↑ Millions rally in anger at Madrid bombers (Daily Telegraph)
  76. ↑ "Ni clavos, ni tuercas, ni tornillos; no había metralla entre nuestros 191 muertos"
  77. ↑ MADRID: THE AFTERMATH: Spain admits bombs were the work of Islamists For the first time in its history al-Qa'ida has used not the cheap and primitive fertiliser-based bombs familiar in attacks from Yemen to Istanbul, but Goma 2 ECO gelignite, detonated by mobile phones. This sophisticated twin technique has previously been the trademark of Eta, the Basque separatist group.
  78. ↑ (Spanish)La Policía encuentra una decimotercera mochila bomba en la comisaría de Puente de Vallecas (El Mundo)
  79. ↑ (Spanish)[8]
  80. ↑ (Spanish)Libertad digital, los enigmas del 11-M 6. Las primeras detenciones Las detenciones de los hindúes
  81. ↑ (Spanish)Al Qaeda reivindica los atentados en un vídeo hallado en Madrid (El Mundo)
  82. ↑ (Spanish)[9]
  83. ↑ A Strike At Europe's Heart (Time)
  84. ↑ Spain’s 11-M and the right’s revenge (Open Democracy)
  85. ↑ Zaplana claims PSOE "afraid that the truth will come out", Spain Herald, 30 March 2005. Recovered from the Internet Archive.
  86. ↑ (Spanish)Los agujeros negros del 11-M El Mundo, 19 April 2004. Article defending a number of conspiracy theories related to the bombings.
  87. ↑ MADRID: THE AFTERMATH: Spain admits bombs were the work of Islamists Connections have also been drawn between the drivers of a van found on the outskirts of Madrid on 29 February containing 500 kg of explosive and the Islamists: the two men in the van are alleged to be members of Eta, and also to have been among a group of Basques who expressed strong support for Iraq against the Anglo-American invasion. But so far the evidence does not go beyond the circumstantial.
  88. ↑ (Spanish)El auto de procesamiento por el 11-M (El Mundo)
  89. ↑ Across the Divide (Time)
  90. ↑ (Spanish)Las notas del confidente marroquí 'Cartagena' prueban que la Policía controlaba a la cúpula del 11-M (El Mundo)
  91. ↑ Spain: State Funeral For Madrid Bombing Victims Gathers World Leaders Radio Free Europe: The main suspect remains Moroccan Jamal Zougam, who allegedly had close ties to Islamist militants and who has been under watch by Spanish, French, and Moroccan agents since 2001
  92. ↑ Spanish investigators confident The lead suspect is Jamal Zougam, who allegedly has close ties with Islamist militants and has been under watch by Spanish, French and Moroccan agents since 2001 at least.
  93. ↑ Un inspector asegura que perseguían a varios de los acusados desde enero de 2003, ABC:An inspector assures that several accused were being pursued since January 2003
  94. ↑ "The notes of the Moroccan confident 'Cartagena' prove that the Police had the 3/11 leadership under surveillance."
  95. ↑ Madrid bombing accused ‘under watch since 2002’
  96. ↑ 34 over 40 alleged perpetrators were controlled by the Police
  97. ↑ 11-M: ¿Culpa in vigilando? Police made a follow-up on the prosecuted, due to his condition of being suspects of Islamic terrorists. De los acusados...la policía venía haciendo un seguimiento por su calidad de sospechosos de ser terroristas islámicos
  98. ↑ ABC Rafa Zouhier. Confident of the Civil Guard...Rafa Zouhier. Confidente de la Guardia Civil...
  99. ↑ Rafá Zouhier was a confident of the Guardia Civil before, during and after the bombings...he do not inform about the preparations. José Emilio Suárez Trashorras was a National Police confident about guns, explosive and drug smugling-Rafá Zohuier era confidente de la Guardia Civil antes, durante y después de los atentados... no informó sobre los preparativos...José Emilio Suárez Trashorras... era confidente de la Policía Nacional-
  100. ↑ The two key collaborators of the Madrid train bombings were police confidents
  101. ↑ El juez dice que el confidente Trashorras pudo conocer el destino del explosivo
  102. ↑ Trashorras era confidente del otro mando policial que ha intervenido esta mañana... ("El País", 03/27/2007)
  103. ↑ El policía Manolón dice que Trashorras, su confidente, le controlaba con llamadas al móvil
  104. ↑ el jefe de la Brigada de Estupefacientes de esta comisaría...un confidente suyo, el ahora procesado José Emilio Suárez Trashorras
  105. ↑ El Jefe del Grupo de Estupefacientes de la Comisaría de Avilés, conocido como "Manolón"...José Emilio Suárez Trashorras...su confidente
  106. ↑ Un inspector asegura que perseguían a varios de los acusados desde enero de 2003
  107. ↑ Newspaper Spat Over Madrid Bombs Conspiracy The Guardian
  108. ↑ Spanish Terrogate, National Review
  109. ↑ Millions pack Madrid's streets CNN
  110. ↑ (Spanish)Comienza en Madrid el juicio por el mayor atentado islamista registrado en Europa, El Pais, February 15, 2007 (Spanish)
  111. ↑ (Spanish)El Morabit niega ahora haber sido avisado de los atentados del 11-M, El Mundo, February 20, 2007 (Spanish)
  112. ↑ ETA, Irak, Zougam, el explosivo... y otras claves de la sentencia del 11-M(Spanish)
  113. ↑ El 11-M se queda sin autores intelectuales al quedar absueltos los tres acusados de serlo(Spanish)
  114. ↑ Guía para abordar la sentencia del 11-M(Spanish)
  115. ↑ [http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/11/01/espana/1193885319.html El final del principio en la investigación del 11-M](Spanish)
  116. ↑ El tribunal del 11-M desbarata la tesis clave de la versión oficial en su sentencia(Spanish)
  117. ↑ The Madrid bombing trial blog Madrid11.net
  118. ↑ [10] transcripts and videos of the Madrid trial
  119. ↑ Barrett, Jane (2007-10-31). "Court finds 21 guilty of Madrid bombings", Reuters. Retrieved on 2007-10-31. 
  120. ↑ List of sentenced defendants

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Disputing statements made by Spanish government and judiciary

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