Terror suspects besieged in Madrid

[demdave]

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- As police engaged in a standoff with three suspected North African terrorists Saturday night in a Madrid suburb, an explosion shook the neighborhood.

A policeman was killed and six to nine other people were wounded, said a reporter from CNN partner station CNN+, who was on the scene.

The explosion occurred about 9 p.m. (2 p.m. ET). It was originally reported by state radio to be a "controlled explosion," in which police first move everyone back before exploding a bomb they are unable to defuse, CNN+ reporter Oscar Diaz de Liano said.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/04/03/spain.bombings/index.html

[TexasMexican]

1. Yeah I just heard about this on TV.

So does this mean that AQ isnt satisified with changing the outcome of the election? Are they going to keep up the attacks still Spanish Troops actually pull out?

I wonder if this will change what the Spanish people think.

[daleo]

2. There seems to be too little evidence to speculate about it yet

But I suppose that is one of the things we all do anyway. The news reports so far say it was a controlled explosion, by the Spanish police, that went badly. As to who made the bomb and why, that is not yet clear. If the pre-election bombing did affect the election in a direction that Al-Queda would have preferred, it would seem foolish of them at this point to do more bombing, which would only put the decision of the new government to withdraw troops in jeopardy. Unless of course Al-Queda wants western troops in Iraq, in which case Bush's invasion has played right into their hands. As always, there are many ways to interpret these events.

[LeftCoast]

3. The Spanish elections went to the Socialists because the RW gov. lied

and said it was ETA. The Spanish have long been resolute against terror (having experienced it for far longer than we) and this will only strengthen that resolve. The difference now is that their new government will actually focus on terror rather than GW's Middle East adventure.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

4. AQ changed the outcome of the election?

Any other wild theories?

[Briar]

5. The Spanish people think just fine

They weren't deceived into thinking the war on terror and the war on Saddam Hussein were connected. Only right wingers push that line, and slander the Spaniards for kicking out a right wing government which lied to them to try to justify a pre-emptive, illegal war. Unlike the US and UK, Spain did not believe the lies. 90 per cent opposed the war. The election was a triumph for democracy, so of course right wingers and war mongers want to present it as appeasement. They're afraid the British and American people will wake up and do the same. We can only hope so.

[NV1962]

6. 1 SWAT officer and 3 terrorists died in the blast

11 SWAT members hospitalized, 3 of them in a very bad shape.

Apparently, the entrenched terrorists (alledgedly Islamic radicals; witnesses report hearing them yell in Arabic) set off the explosion when they noticed the SWAT team members just before they entered the flat where they were hiding out.

It seems three others may have escaped after a shoot-out with the police.

The pertaining webpage (in Spanish) of El Mundo is here.

The building will probably be demolished, as it suffered structural damage from the blast; the façade came down, as can be seen in the photograph:

[NV1962]

7. CNN has more info in English

here

[NV1962]

8. Remains of 4th terrorist found in adjacent swimming pool

According to El Mundo, the remains of a fourth terrorist were found in an adjacent swimming pool, presumably hurled from the apartment blown up by the terrorists when Spanish SWAT teams were entering it to detain the group.