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Spaniards vote in elections
14/03/2004 10:41 - (SA)
Madrid - Spaniards are going to the polls on Sunday in a general election thrown wide open by a reported al-Qaida claim that it staged the Madrid rail bombings to punish the government for supporting the Iraq war.
Ruling Popular Party candidate Mariano Rajoy led most polls until last Thursday's bombing which killed 200 and injured 1 500 others. His Conservative Party had been projected to win most seats in the 350-member Congress of Deputies, and maybe retain its outright majority.
Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's government initially blamed the Basque separatist group ETA for the rail attack.
But just hours before polls opened, Interior Minister Angel Acebes announced the arrests of three Moroccans and two Indians and later disclosed the existence of a videotape in which Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror group claims responsibility.
The news was broadcast on national TV and could sway the election.
Opposed invasion
Spaniards including the main opposition candidate, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of the Socialist party, opposed last year's US-led invasion of Iraq, which Aznar endorsed. He later sent 1 300 peacekeeping troops.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside Popular Party headquarters in Madrid and other cities on Saturday night, demanding the truth about who carried out the bombing and also shouting criticism of the government.
"No more cover-ups," read a banner carried by the protesters, who were being watched by riot police.
Interviews with some of the millions of Spaniards who rallied for peace across the country the day after the bombing showed they felt Aznar provoked the terrorist attack by endorsing the war.
The Socialists pointed to the government's shifting version of events, which first focused blame ETA, but then included Islamic suspects after a van was found in the Madrid suburb where three of the four bombed trains originated. Inside were verses from the Quran, as well as detonators.
- AP
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