Millions to join march on terror as death toll rises

Millions of people were expected to turn out on the streets of Spain today in protest at yesterday’s devastating bomb attacks in Madrid which killed 198 people.

As the death toll rose, Spanish television and news reports continually revised the number of fatalities.

Of those who have died, 84 have yet to be identified, said Deputy Justice Minister Rafael Alcala, who was speaking from a makeshift morgue.

The number of injured has soared to 1,400, with 367 people still in hospital and 45 of those in a critical condition.

As Spain reeled from the shock of its worst terrorist outrage, the government called for nationwide demonstrations against the attacks.

Thousands of people across the country took part in spontaneous anti-terror rallies yesterday, standing silently in packed town squares.

Although the Spanish government immediately blamed the separatist group ETA, attention quickly turned to Islamic extremists.

The London-based Arabic language Al Quds newspaper said it had received an e-mail from a group representing Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network, claiming responsibility for the explosions.

The e-mail, issued by the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri in the name of al-Qaida, said its “death squad” had penetrated “one of the pillars of the crusader alliance”.

“This is part of settling old accounts with Spain, the crusader, and America’s ally in its war against Islam,” it said.

Spanish police also discovered a van on the outskirts of the city with detonators and an Arabic language tape with verses from the Koran.

Following the discovery, interior minister Angel Acebes said “all kinds of lines of investigation open up”.

But today the focus was on protest.

“Let us all unite with a single voice to fight these murderous and criminal terrorists,” said Spanish government spokesman Eduardo Zaplana on national TV, urging Spaniards to turn out “in force”.

Yesterday, 10 bombs ripped through several trains and stations at 7.40am during Madrid’s rush-hour in Europe’s worst terrorist atrocity since the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing.

Panicked commuters trampled on each other, abandoning their bags and shoes, after three of the bombs went off in one train in the Atocha station in the heart of Madrid at the height of yesterday morning’s rush-hour.

Train carriages were turned into twisted wrecks and platforms were strewn with corpses.

Mobile phones rang unanswered on the bodies of the dead as frantic relatives tried to call them.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US president George Bush led world condemnation of the attacks, describing the bombings as “unspeakable evil”.

Mr Blair, who was in Dublin for talks with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, said: “It is absolutely unbelievable that people should think any cause could justify such an act.”

President Bush declared: “We stand strong with the people of Spain. I appreciate so very much the Spanish government’s fight against terror.”

French president Jacques Chirac pledged “solidarity with Spain in fighting against this abominable scourge”.

Spain has been regarded as a potential target for Islamic terrorists because of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar’s strong support for Britain and America in the war against Iraq.

After an emergency Cabinet meeting, Mr Aznar vowed to hunt down the attackers and branded the atrocity “mass murder”.

Spain’s general election will go ahead as planned on Sunday but campaigning has been called off and three days of mourning were declared.

Spanish foreign minister Ana Palacio said today that all the indications were that the blasts were the work of ETA, although the government was keeping an open mind on the issue.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Everything, the evidence, points towards ETA. But of course we cannot exclude any other possibility.

“Our security forces have been able to stop, in the run-up to the elections, at least four attempts. In these four attempts, the link to ETA was absolutely crystal clear.”

She went on: “Terrorism has no causes whatsoever. You can find the authors, but terrorism cannot claim any cause.

“Terrorism does not serve any cause, terrorists serve terrorism and chaos and the only objective they have is to undermine the open society, our principles and values.”

On tonight’s demonstrations against the violence, she said: “I think there is a pervasive feeling that we have to demonstrate that united we stand, and that united we will win over terrorism.”