ETA car bomb attack injures 43 in Madrid
The worst blast in the Spanish capital since last year's March 11 al-Qaida train bombings came before King Juan Carlos and Mexican President Vincente Fox were to open an art fair at the complex on the outskirts of the city.
Forty-three people were hurt, none seriously, including 24 taken to hospital, an emergencies official said. Six police officers were among the injured.
The explosion, which coincided with a major police operation against ETA, seemed to erase any hope the group might declare a truce before Basque regional elections in April and could dent Madrid's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.
"The terrorist band ETA is weakened. It has no political future, but it still has operational strength," Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso told a news conference.
The Interior Ministry said 200 police officers had taken part in a nationwide operation overnight which had smashed ETA's recruitment structure. Fourteen people were arrested.
Basque newspaper Gara received a warning from ETA yesterday morning announcing that a car bomb would explode soon afterwards near the convention centre, police said.
The car used in the attack had been stolen in Guadalajara, a nearby town, Mr Alonso said.
"I would like to say to the terrorists of ETA and those who support them that there is no place for them in politics or civil society bombs lead only to prison," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said during a visit to Warsaw.
The blast smashed windows and damaged 18 parked cars.
"We heard a huge explosion ... Some people were shouting that it was an earthquake, others that it was a bomb," said businessman Paco Astorga, who works in a nearby office building.
"From the window, we saw a column of white smoke ... and the police getting people out, some with blood on their faces," Mr Astorga said.
Police made office workers stay inside for three hours until they were given the all-clear to come out.
On March 11 last year, 191 people were killed in attacks on trains, days before a general election. Al-Qaida Islamist militants claimed responsibility.
Yesterday's bomb was outside a conference centre and a short distance from the IFEMA convention centre where King Juan Carlos and Mr Fox were due to open a contemporary art fair.
Reacting to the blast, Mr Fox said he planned to visit Atocha, one of the Madrid stations hit in the March 11 attacks, on Wednesday "as a symbol of our total commitment in the fight against terrorism."
A Mexican judge last week upheld a decision to extradite six Spaniards arrested on suspicion of having links to ETA.
The explosion may be a blow to Madrid's ambition to host the 2012 Olympics. It proposes holding a number of events at the convention centre if it beats Paris, London, New York and Moscow in an Olympic ballot on July 6 to choose the host city.
Olympic inspectors visited the centre last week. Explosives experts estimated the bomb contained up to 66 pounds of explosives, Mr Alonso said.
ETA has killed nearly 850 people since 1968 in a bombing and shooting campaign for an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwestern France.
Basque Premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe, a moderate nationalist, announced regional elections last week after the Spanish parliament overwhelmingly rejected his plan for Basque "free association" with Spain.
Batasuna, banned in 2003 as the political wing of ETA, cannot take part in the polls unless it condemns ETA violence.
