This is an archived blog post from The Acorn.
The Basque terrorists were the initial suspects, but it now appears that al-Qaeda related Islamic terrorists may have played a role in this bombing. In contrast to its older style, a self-proclaimed al Qaeda affiliate has actually claimed responsibility for the blasts.
What I’d like to know is who those Indians are? Abu Salem, one of the key accused in the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts was arrested in neighbouring Portugal last year. So it is possible that either the Dawood Ibrahim mob or another jehadi outfit has provided assistance to the bombers. Then there are those wheeler-dealers just out to make a quick buck who could be involved.
India should extend its cooperation to Spain and get to the bottom of this affair.
Aside: Pakistan’s newspaper, The News headline says “Blasts: Spain arrests three Moroccans, two Hindus”. Now, no other source confirms the religion of the Indians concerned, so it really must be a piece of investigative conjecturing journalism.
Endpiece: I was impressed by the Spanish people’s reaction to the bombings. Millions of people out in the streets demonstrating their contempt and defiance of the terrorists. Bravo.
Update: AP reports (via Jihad Watch) that the Spanish interior ministry identified the two of the suspects as Vinay Kohly and Suresh Kumar (who are Spaniards of Indian origin, not Indian nationals). Going by the names, it looks like The News got its headline right !
However, Abiola thinks the terrorists won
Those who carried out the outrage in Madrid played their cards just right. The sad thing for the Spaniards is that this show of weakness on their part will only encourage more of the very same violence, now that Spain has been shown to be the soft underbelly of Europe. Cowering in one’s territory and forsaking one’s allies for fear of offending islamic fundamentalists is no way of going about things. Faced with a choice between shame and war, the Spanish seem to have chosen shame, but they’ll get war anyway [Foreign Dispatches]
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