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New bomb tied to Madrid attack

Interior Minister Angel Acebes said yesterday that the bomb found at a high-speed rail line a day earlier was made of the same type of explosives used in the Madrid terrorist bombings.

"The explosives are the same as those used on March 11, but at this moment the investigation is continuing ... to try to determine who is behind it," Acebes said in Madrid.

Investigators have said the March 11 bombings were carried out with Spanish dynamite -- Goma 2 Eco. The attack killed 191 people and injured 1,800.

On Friday morning, authorities immediately stopped six bullet trains using the Madrid-Seville line after the discovery of the 12kg bomb under a track about 60km south of Madrid. The bomb failed to detonate because it wasn't properly connected, officials said.

About 1,600 passengers left their trains and were taken to their destinations by charter buses. Train service was restored yesterday.

No train was near the site when the bomb was discovered, state rail officials said.

The discovery rattled a country still traumatized by the March 11 attacks, which officials believe may have been carried out by an Islamic extremist group from Morocco. Authorities on Friday stepped up security on Spain's entire rail network, with soldiers providing surveillance.

Judge Teresa Palacio, the magistrate on duty on Friday at the National Court, said there was no evidence pointing to either the armed Basque separatist group ETA or the al-Qaeda terrorist network in the failed attack, a court official said. ETA has targeted Spanish rail lines in the past.

Because the bag was dry and the ground was wet, authorities believe it was placed at the scene on Friday. A 135m-long cable attached to a detonator looked new.

Acebes said on Friday that the bomber or bombers may have been scared away by security guards as they planted the device.

There was no warning about the bomb, he said.

The line where the bomb was found mainly serves Spain's AVE bullet trains, which have a maximum speed of 305kph, although some slower trains do use it.

Spain's entire rail system will get a new security system employing helicopters, four-wheel-drive cars and armored vehicles from the Spanish army.

Meanwhile, a Spanish judge on Friday charged a 15th suspect for the March 11 bombings. The government has said its investigation is focused on the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, which has links to al-Qaeda.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported yesterday that the Spanish embassy in Egypt received a letter from an Islamic militant group threatening new attacks if Spain doesn't withdraw its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the letter, the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri, a group that also claimed responsibility for the March 11 attacks, threatened to strike against Spanish diplomatic missions in North Africa and the Mediterranean region unless Spanish troops were withdrawn in four weeks.

A Spanish diplomat in Cairo, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the embassy received a threatening letter signed by Abu Hafs after the commuter train attacks last month.

The US believes the Abu Hafs group lacks credibility and has only tenuous ties to al-Qaeda. In the past, the group has claimed responsibility for events to which they were not connected -- such as last summer's blackouts in North America and Britain.

Six of the 15 suspects Spain is holding for the March 11 bombings are charged with mass murder, while the remaining nine are accused of collaborating with or belonging to a terrorist organization.
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