SPAIN: Five thousand people take part in anti-terrorism march /Picture released of second bombing suspect

Record ID: 214822

  • Title: SPAIN: Five thousand people take part in anti-terrorism march /Picture released of second bombing suspect
  • Date: 5th April 2004
  • Summary: (W7) LEGANES, SPAIN (APRIL 5, 2004) (REUTERS) WIDE OF PEOPLE MARCHING DURING RALLY VARIOOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING "NO TO WAR" VARIOUS OF CHILD HOLDING BANNER READING "PEACE" VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING "WE WANT PEACE, IT IS ENOUGH" TOP SHOT OF DEMONSTRATION VARIOUS OF PEACE BANNERS/ MARCHERS TOP SHOT OF DEMONSTRATION VARIOUS OF CHANTING DEMONSTRATORS VAR
  • Embargoed: 20th April 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LEGANES, SPAIN/UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADNX288BGNFRCNOOHLFFNSTCZB
  • Story Text: Five thousand take part in anti-terrorism rally in Leganes in memory of the policeman killed in Saturday's raid/Interior Ministry releases picture of second suspected bomber.
    Around 5,000 Spaniards have taken part in a peace rally in the Madrid suburb of Leganes where a policeman died when militants thought to be behind the Madrid train bombings blew themselves up.
    Many demonstrators turned their anger against the outgoing government saying they invited Spaniards, whose sleepy neighbourhood was rocked by a weekend shootout and suicide bombing, turned their anger on Monday (April 5, 2004) against the outgoing government they say invited trouble by sending troops to Iraq.
    The march was called in Leganes two days after militants thought to be behind the Madrid train bombings last month blew themselves up, refusing to surrender when crack police agents surrounded their apartment.
    One police officer was killed. Three days after the March train bombings which killed 191 people, voters threw out the strongly pro-American Popular Party of Jose Maria Aznar, many citing his handling of the attacks.
    Aznar's government initially insisted that Basque separatist guerrillas ETA were the prime suspects in the bombings, even though evidence increasingly pointed to Islamic militants.
    Spain sent 1,300 troops to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein against the wishes of many Spaniards. "Bring back the troops now," the crowd chanted angrily. Some carried banners such as: "No more blood for oil" and "Damn wars and those who back them".
    The march came as Spanish troops came under pressure in Iraq, turning up the heat on incoming Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who has pledged to withdraw troops unless the U.N. takes charge in Iraq by June 30.
    At the weekend Spanish troops come under attack in Shi'ite areas south of Baghdad and returned fire.
    Twenty Iraqis, an American and a Salvadoran soldier died, and the Spanish continued to come under mortar fire on Monday.
    Aznar's Popular Party said it had decided not to join the Leganes march because it had been turned into a protest against the Iraq war.
    Meanwhile the Spanish Interior Ministry released a picture of the second suspected bomber on Monday (April 5).
    Asri Rifaat Anouar was blown up along with other suspected train bombers in Madrid's suburb of Leganes on Saturday (April 3).
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