Spain condemns London attacks, offers help
Spain, hit by deadly al Qaida-linked blasts last year on the Madrid commuter rail network, condemned today’s blasts in London and offered to help track down the perpetrators.
“Spain, which has for years suffered the disgrace of terrorism, national and international, offers immediately its unconditional help and full support for Britain to help chase the criminals who perpetrated such a repugnant attack against a city which was celebrating its selection as host of the 2012 Olympic Games,” the Spanish government said in a statement.
Like Britain, Spain has had first-hand experience with bomb attacks in recent decades. Radicals with suspected links to al-Qaida are blamed for 10 bombs on four commuter trains in Madrid on March 11, 2004 that killed 191 people and injured more than 1,500.
Spain has also been fighting the armed Basque separatist group Eta since the late 1960s.
Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso is trying to arrange a telephone conversation for later today with his British counterpart, Home Secretary Charles Clarke.
Alonso told reporters he would meet with Spanish police chiefs to discuss the London bombings.
Of British authorities, Alonso said: “We’re completely at their disposal for whatever they may need.”
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