Van with detonators points to an Islamic link
By David Blair and Isambard Wilkinson

A van containing seven detonators and an Arabic tape of Koranic verse was found in a Madrid suburb last night, raising the possibility that al-Qa'eda was behind the bomb attacks. Osama bin Laden threatened Spain with attack last year because it helped the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq.

Angel Acebes, the Spanish interior minister, pointedly refused to rule out any line of inquiry after police, acting on a tip-off, found the van in the town of Alcala de Henares outside Madrid.

Three of the four trains that were targeted for attack left from Alcala de Henares. The other passed through the town on its way to the capital. However, Mr Acebes said Eta remained the "main line of investigation".

Bin Laden gave warning that Spain would be singled out for attack in a taped message released last October through al-Jazeera, the Arab satellite channel. He vowed that Spain would be among six nations considered "special" targets for its role in the Iraq war.

"We reserve the right to retaliate at the appropriate time and place against all countries involved, especially the UK, Spain, Australia, Poland, Japan and Italy," said bin Laden.

The Iberian peninsula carries a unique emotional charge for Islamic extremists, who believe that it forms part of the lost lands of the historic Muslim nation.

Muslim armies conquered the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century and transformed the country into an integral part of the Muslim "umma", or nation.

Recreating this Islamic empire is bin Laden's sworn mission. The Muslim presence in Spain survived until 1492 when Catholic armies destroyed the Islamic kingdom of Granada.

This date is sometimes taken as marking the onset of the decline of the Muslim world by comparison with the West.

Avenging the defeats of the past centuries and rebuilding the "umma" are bin Laden's central goals. Striking any country aiding the Anglo-American campaign in Iraq is al-Qa'eda's current priority.

All these objectives would be served by attacking Spain.

Yet the absence of any suicide bombers is inconsistent with al-Qa'eda's tried and tested method of operation. The motive for bin Laden's involvement might be clear but the evidence suggesting that he had a hand in the attacks is slender.

The possible role of Eta is also difficult to assess. If it were responsible, it would mark a clear and murderous break with 36 years of relatively low level terror.

Yet according to Spanish intelligence sources the organisation has been riven by internal dispute in recent months, with younger members jostling to take over from the ageing leadership.

The new group is described as increasingly callous and cavalier.

The dispute has been made more acute by the setbacks suffered by the organisation over the past two years.

During that time, Eta has been stung by the loss of dozens of members as senior personnel were arrested in France and Spain. In addition, numerous terrorist plots have failed.

Spanish government officials said yesterday that the group was increasingly desperate and suffering a sense of impotence.

In December, French police dealt the hardest blow to the organisation with the arrests of two alleged top commanders: Ibon Fernandez Iradi, known as "Susper", and Gorka Palacios Alday.

Joel Cathala, a former police chief in charge of anti-terrorism in France's Basque country, said: "Eta has suffered major reverses. The leaders of the past are gone. When the beast is wounded, that is exactly when it is at its most dangerous."

Recent successes had led some politicians in Madrid to whisper that Eta might soon become a fringe group lacking punch. The attacks might be designed to send a savage and crude message to Mr Aznar and his successor Mariano Rajoy.

Mr Aznar survived an Eta assassination attempt in 1995 and has always treated the regionalist nationalism of the Basques and Catalans with mano dura, a firm hand.

He refused not only to take part in dialogue with the group after Eta broke a 14-month ceasefire in 1999, but also rejected talks with the mainstream regional ruling Basque Nationalist Party.

The group is led by a 10-strong council based across the border in south-eastern France. The group was born under the repressive and openly anti-Basque dictatorship of Gen Franco.

Spaniards had cheered when the group pulled off its biggest coup: the assassination of Franco's appointed successor, Adml Luis Carrero Blanco. The admiral went to mass in Madrid every morning. On Dec 20 1973 three huge dynamite charges buried under the road killed him and his two bodyguards.