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ETA denies any role in train bomb
THE BASQUE separatist group ETA has issued a statement denying any role in the Madrid train bombings that killed 200 people, the Basque newspaper Gara said on its Web site yesterday, as Spain?s general election began.
According to the Basque nationalist newspaper, ETA said Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's support of the US-led war in Iraq was responsible for provoking the bombings, which it claimed were probably carried out by ?a group of Islamic origin?.
The Basque nationalist newspaper regularly publishes statements by ETA, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union. Early yesterday, the Spanish government revealed a tape purportedly from al Qaeda claiming responsibility for the rush-hour bombings on Thursday which left some 1,500 wounded.
ETA said police had been aware from the start of their investigations that the Basque group was not responsible for Spain?s worst ever bomb attack. ETA has killed roughly 850 people since 1968 in its campaign for a Basque homeland carved out of northern Sapin and southwest France.
The newspaper said ETA reiterated its commitment to the use of violence, but expressed its willingness for talks.
?We hope whoever governs Spain from today will act with more sense, so we can achieve a peace based on human rights and dialogue for the Basque homeland,? read the statement published by the paper. ETA criticised moderate Basque nationalist parties for holding it responsible for the attacks and dismissed Basque premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe?s plan for sharing sovereignty with Spain. A caller in the name of ETA had previously phoned Gara and Basque public television to deny any role in the attacks.
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