Madrid bombs 'not linked' to Iraq war

Former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said yesterday that Islamic militants had tried to use the Madrid train bombings to oust the pro-US ruling party from power, but not because of its support for the Iraq war.

"These attacks were being prepared long before the Iraq war. They were not the result of the Iraq war even though many people said so," Mr Aznar said in combative testimony to a parliamentary commission probing the attacks.

The March 11 bombings aboard four packed commuter trains killed 191 people and wounded 1,900 three days before a general election, and Mr Aznar's mistaken placing of blame on the Basque separatist movement ETA was widely believed to have helped the anti-war Socialist opposition on polling day.

Had ETA been responsible, it could have helped Mr Aznar in the election by seeming to justify his hard line against the group.

The Madrid bombers - mostly North Africans who investigators say were waging an Islamic holy war against the West - made videotapes claiming the attacks in the name of al Qaeda in Europe and said they were seeking revenge for Spain's dispatch of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Aznar, making the first appearance by a former premier in a parliamentary investigation, was not pressed on the bombers' own explanation of their motives.

Statements by those who carry out attacks are not given credibility in Spain, which has battled ETA for over 30 years.