Homeland Security

DATE=3/16/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=SPAIN / BOMBS (L-O)

NUMBER=2-314158

BYLINE=GIL CARBAJAL

DATELINE=MADRID

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Police in Spain have arrested an Algerian man and are searching for at least five Moroccans suspected of involvement in last Thursday's bombings in Madrid. Another person died Tuesday of injuries received in the attack, bringing the death toll to 201. Gil Carbajal reports from Madrid.

TEXT: The police continue to turn up leads linking Islamic extremists to the bombings. One of the men under arrest has been identified as Moroccan Jamal Zougam. Spanish and foreign news reports quote investigators as saying he may be linked to the people responsible for a terrorist attack in Casablanca last May that killed more than 40 people.

Mr. Zougam, his half-brother and his business partner ran a mobile telephone store in Madrid. They are all in custody. Mobile phones were used as timers for the Madrid bombs.

Police are now searching for as many as five more Moroccans. Morocco has sent a team of agents to work with Spanish police in the investigation of the bombings.

In addition, Basque regional police arrested an Algerian man on Tuesday, after recalling that when he was arrested in January for drug trafficking he threatened that Madrid would be filled with dead bodies. He specifically mentioned the Atocha station, where three of the bombs went off aboard a commuter train.

Meanwhile, Spaniards continue to mourn the victims of the attack. There was a funeral service Tuesday in Madrid's cathedral, and people set up improvised shrines with candles, flowers, and placards around Atocha station. Balconies and public places all over the city are adorned with black ribbons.

Officials say that of the more than 200 people killed, nearly 25 have not yet been identified. More than 200 of the 16 hundred injured remain in the hospital, and doctors say at least eight are in extremely critical condition.

The reaction of the Spanish people to the terrorist attacks is believed to have been a key factor in the upset victory of the Socialist party in Sunday's parliamentary election. The party leader, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will be the new prime minister. On Monday, he repeated his harsh criticism of the war in Iraq, saying that violence only breeds more violence.

Some analysts say many Spanish voters felt the current government's support for the war put Spain on the terrorists' list of targets. And they warn that if terrorists think they can change the course of politics in Western countries, they could be encouraged to launch more such attacks, particularly just before elections. (Signed)

NEB/GC/AWP/RH/KL