I'm not saying that the arrests have toughenend up ETA, I'm saying that the new blood are looking for alternatives to what has been unsuccesful early 20th Century style terrorism.
WAIT A SECOND! What is this?
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- In a dramatic rebuff to the ruling conservative Popular Party, Spain's Socialists have claimed victory in Sunday's national elections.
With more than 90 percent of the vote counted, the Socialist Workers Party is on track to win 163 seats in the country's 350-seat parliament, just shy of an absolute majority.
The ruling conservative Popular Party is tipped to win 149 seats.
The Socialists so far have won 43.01 percent of the total vote, ending eight years of conservative rule.
The Socialist Party's leader José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has appeared live on Spanish television to claim victory, saying his party was now in a position to form government.
The chief spokesman for Spain's ruling Partido Popular Party has congratulated the Socialist Party as the winner of the national elections.
The government will collaborate in the transition of power, said Eduardo Zaplana, who is also a Cabinet minister, in a nationally televised address.
Turnout was high at 76 percent with voters seeming to expressd anger with the government, accusing it of provoking the Madrid attacks by supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq, which most Spaniards opposed.
Spain's general election was thrown wide open by a reported al Qaeda claim that it was responsible for Thursday's Madrid train bombings to punish the government for supporting the Iraq war.
Before Thursday, the Popular Party had been favored to win by a comfortable margin, making its leader, Mariano Rajoy, the prime minister. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar chose not to run for a third term.
Polling booths opened at 9 a.m. Sunday amid claims that Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's government possibly withheld information from the public about who was behind the terror attack that killed 200 people and injured 1,500 more.
Saturday night several thousand demonstrators chanted and waved signs in front of the Popular Party headquarters in Madrid and other cities, demanding the truth about who carried out the bombing and criticizing the government.
Ministers had initially blamed the Basque separatist group ETA, but as evidence mounted of an Islamic link, officials were forced to revise this position.
Callers in the name of ETA have meanwhile issued media statements denying any role in the bombings.
"No more cover-ups," read one banner carried by the protesters.
Many of the millions who rallied for peace on Friday across Spain said they felt Aznar had provoked the attacks by backing the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, according to The Associated Press.
The majority of Spaniards, including Zapatero, opposed the war. No Spaniards participated in the invasion of Iraq but Aznar later sent 1,300 peacekeeping troops.
Officials meanwhile said on Sunday they had been unable to identify the purported al Qaeda military spokesman who had claimed responsibility on a videotape for the bombings. (Full story)
The tape was recovered by police from a waste paper bin near the capital on Saturday.
On the video, the man, described as Abu Dujan al Afgani, is reported to have said the group blew up the Madrid trains in retaliation for Spanish cooperation with Washington's war on terror and the conflict in Iraq. CNN has not seen the tape.
Interior Minister Angel Acebes said Sunday police would continue to hold five men -- three Moroccans and two Indians -- arrested on Saturday under anti-terrorist laws. One of the five men has been linked to the alleged ringleader of al Qaeda in Spain. (Full story)
The attacks struck four commuter trains Thursday morning. Ten backpack bombs exploded. But an unexploded pack contained clues -- the explosive ECO, made in Spain, combined with metal pieces intended to multiply its destructive effect, with a detonator and a mobile telephone.
The investigation started by focusing on ETA, Acebes said, but broadened with the discovery of the unexploded backpack and a van containing seven detonators and a tape of Koranic verses in Arabic.
The van was found shortly after the attacks, in the eastern suburb of Alcala de Henares, located on the same commuter line that was attacked.
Ten bombs exploded on four trains in three stations.
The private Spanish radio station, Cadena SER -- which has connections to the Socialists -- reported Saturday that sources in the Spanish intelligence agency said they were "99 percent sure" Thursday's attacks were carried out by Islamic extremists who probably fled the country immediately after the attacks.
The Socialists, which have pledged to bring home Spanish troops from Iraq if they win Sunday, would benefit if al Qaeda or another Islamic group were found to be responsible because of their opposition to the war, analysts said.
Aznar is not seeking a third term, complying with a pledge he made years ago not to seek a third four-year term. Former interior minister Mariano Rajoy is the Popular Party's candidate for prime minister.
Candidates are competing for seats in the nation's lower and upper houses of parliament.
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/eu...ion/index.html
Democratic Socialists don't get me bed-wetting excited, but it is still good. Spanish troops out of Iraq it looks like, that weakens Blair for sure, and maybe Bush.
Now to throw out the other two!