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By Andrew Cawthorne

MADRID (Reuters) - ETA said on Friday it was not responsible for the Madrid train bomb blasts that killed nearly 200 people, but Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said the Basque separatist group remained the focus of inquiry.


"An ETA message has arrived saying that it bore no responsibility for the attack," ETB Basque public television reported.


But two days before a general election he said would go ahead as planned, Aznar stuck to his initial accusation that ETA was behind Thursday's bomb blasts on four packed commuter trains that also wounded nearly 1,500 people.


Fears that Muslim militants linked to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda might have been behind the coordinated bombings put security forces on alert across Europe and beyond.


A six-and-a-half-month-old baby girl died in hospital on Friday, taking the official death toll to 199 in what Spanish media have dubbed "Our September 11."


"No line of investigation will be ruled out," Aznar said minutes before Spaniards fell silent across the nation to mourn the dead at midday.


Hundreds of thousands later took to the streets of Madrid in response to an appeal by Aznar to show their opposition to the bombings.


Many analysts say any proven ETA involvement in the bombings would likely benefit the ruling Popular Party (PP) in Sunday's general election because of its tough anti-ETA stance.


PRICE OF IRAQ WAR?


But they said that if the killings were the work of Muslim militants, it could be viewed as the price for Aznar's backing of the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites) in the face of strong domestic Spanish opposition.


"Why does the government think there may be evidence that leads us to the terrorist organization we know so well here?" Aznar asked, before citing foiled ETA plots and intelligence suggesting the group was aiming at transport targets.


"What did this terrorist organization want when they tried to enter Madrid last week with 500 kilos of explosives? It's a line of investigation any Spanish government that hasn't lost its head has to follow. It's the one we are following and if there are other hypotheses, we'll follow them too."


Victims of the Madrid bombs included 24 nationals of 10 other countries: Peru, Honduras, Poland, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guinea Bissau, France, Morocco and Colombia.


Shocked Spaniards left flowers and messages next to the mangled wreckage of trains and station platforms on Friday.


Witnesses spoke of their horror at the carnage -- including mobile phones ringing on dead bodies.


As condemnation poured in from Pope John Paul (news - web sites) to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites), jittery European nations tightened security and bomb scares in Spain kept nerves strained.


Washington said a purported al Qaeda letter claiming responsibility for the bombings and threatening another September 11-style strike could be the "precursor" of another plot against the United States.





"CRUSADER EUROPE"

"We have succeeded in infiltrating the heart of crusader Europe and struck one of the bases of the crusader alliance," said the letter, a copy of which was faxed by a London-based Arabic newspaper to Reuters in Dubai.

No authentication was available of the letter attributed to the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, a group aligned to al Qaeda.

Practically all of Spain, from homes to workplaces, came to a halt at midday for silent vigils.

Broadcasters fell silent and drivers stood by their cars on main roads. Spanish flags and black ribbons fluttered from houses.

At Aznar's residence, a silent vigil was broken by an official shouting: "Send the terrorists to the firing squad."

Joined by the prime ministers of Italy and France, as well as other senior officials from around Europe, millions of Spaniards gathered for the evening protest called by Aznar.

Solidarity rallies were also scheduled in Venezuela, Mexico, Peru and Argentina. President Bush (news - web sites) planned to join a wreath-laying ceremony at the Spanish ambassador's Washington residence.

Fueling suspicions of a possible al Qaeda link, Spain has found a van containing seven detonators and a tape in Arabic at a town near Madrid.

"If the hell unleashed which burned the whole of Madrid on Thursday is the result of Islamic fanaticism, we must look at Spain's role in the Iraq war: an involvement which our citizens rejected," said newspaper commentator Antonio Gala.

ETA has killed about 850 people since 1968 in its fight for a separate Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France. It has been branded a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union (news - web sites).

Thursday's death toll was the biggest in a guerrilla attack in Europe since December 1988 when a bomb exploded on board a Pan American Boeing 747, bringing it down on the Scottish town of Lockerbie. In all, 270 people were killed. (Additional reporting by Marta Calleja, Adrian Croft, Elisabeth O'Leary, Daniel Trotta, Emma Ross-Thomas and Andrew Cawthorne)


whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules.
It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness.
This is true both in politics and on the internet."

Our Friendly Neighborhood Ray-man said: "no, the doctor's right. besides, he has seniority."