Madrid bombers not tied to al-Qaida (It Was Western Intel, Big Surprise!)

no big surprise here....



Madrid bombers not tied to al-Qaida
The homegrown radicals acted alone, officials say

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/3713507.html


By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press

MADRID, SPAIN - A two-year investigation into the Madrid train bombings concludes that the Islamic terrorists who carried out the blasts were homegrown radicals acting alone rather than at the behest of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, two senior intelligence officials said.

Spain still remains home to a web of radical Algerian, Moroccan and Syrian groups bent on carrying out attacks — and aiding the insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq — the Spanish intelligence chief and a Western official involved in counterterrorism measures in Spain said.

The intelligence chief said there were no phone calls between the Madrid bombers and al-Qaida and no money transfers. The Western official said the plotters had links to other Islamic radicals in Western Europe, but the plan was hatched and organized in Spain. "This was not an al-Qaida operation," he said. "It was homegrown."

Both men spoke on condition of anonymity, the first because Spanish security officials are not allowed to discuss details of an ongoing investigation and the second because of the sensitive nature of his job.

from March 9th
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2156512