Thursday, January 04, 2007
220 Pounds of Explosives Found in Spain
Police in the Basque region said Thursday they had found a bomb in northern Spain, five days after a car bombing in Madrid that was blamed on the separatist group ETA and killed one person.
Nearly 220 pounds of explosives were found in a drum near an abandoned car outside the Basque town of Amorebieta, and they were rigged to be used in an attack, a spokesman for the Basque police said.
On Dec. 23 police found an arms cache near Amorebieta with around 120 pounds of explosives.
The Basque interior department said the explosives found Thursday were ready for "immediate" use and only lacked a detonator.
Police searching the area noticed the car had been parked for several days, and upon examining it found suspicious stains inside. They expanded their search and found the drum with the explosives, the department said.
Meanwhile, the prime minister toured the bombed wreckage of Madrid's airport parking garage Thursday and warned the Basque separatist group ETA that neither the Spanish government nor its citizens will be intimidated.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was escorted by police and firefighters as he visited the shattered concrete structure where a bomb exploded Saturday, killing one man and leaving another missing. ETA has not claimed responsibility, but the armed group is the only suspect in the bombing, which left the nine-month-old peace process in ruins.
"It is not going to intimidate anyone," Zapatero said.
