AN al-Qaida-linked videotape threatening more attacks against Spain, singles out the incoming Socialist government for its decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

SPANISH police believe a top al-Qaida operative in Europe put two key suspects in the Madrid bombings in contact with each other and gave the planned attack the blessing of the organisation, a newspaper reported yesterday.

A videotape found in a flat where suspected terrorists blew themselves up gives Spain a deadline to withdraw its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan or face more bloodshed at home.