Spain observes 2nd Madrid bombings anniv.
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-12 09:06

With flowers, tears, prayers and silence, Spain on Saturday observed the second anniversary of the Madrid train bombings which killed 191 people and is seen as the country's Sept. 11.

Two students carry a wreath of flowers in the 'Forest of Remembrance' in Madrid's Retiro Park, Spain, Saturday March 11 2006. Madrid is commemorating the second anniversary of Spain's worst terrorist attack which killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500. The attacks were claimed by Muslim militants who said they had acted on behalf of al-Qaida to avenge the presence of Spanish troops in Iraq. [AP]

A delegation from Morocco 錕斤拷 home to many of the suspects 錕斤拷 fell silent at the Atocha train station, one of four sites where 10 backpack bombs exploded exactly two years ago, also wounding more than 1,500.

The 70-member Moroccan Caravan for Peace and Solidarity set out from Morocco in buses on March 5, stopping in Spanish cities before arriving at the station. Inside they held a red Moroccan flag next to the red-and-yellow one of Spain.

Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders recited prayers for peace and understanding at the station. They lit candles as a roll-call of the dead was read out.

At a grove of olive and cypress trees set up in memory of the victims, two children placed a wreath at the foot of a column erected to honor the 191 dead.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero looked on sternly, as a lone cellist played, while many in the crowd of 500 sobbed.

At the El Pozo train station, hardest hit site in the March 11, 2004, attack, about 100 people bowed their heads in silence. Some held red and pink carnations, lit candles at makeshift shrines and cried. Sixty-seven people died at the station.

The attacks were claimed by al-Qaida, but a two-year investigation has revealed that Osama bin Laden's group gave no logistical or financial support to the bombers, two senior intelligence officials told The Associated Press earlier this week.

Both men spoke on condition of anonymity, the first because Spanish security officials are not allowed to discuss details of an ongoing investigation and the second due to the sensitive nature of his job.

"I woke up very depressed, thinking about everything that happened and those who did not live to tell about it," said Jesus Ramirez, 51, who suffered burned legs and shrapnel injuries at El Pozo station, and returned to it Saturday for the first time since the massacre.

Maria Jesus Moreno, a 45-year-old secretary, said she was about to get on a train at El Pozo two years ago when it exploded, sending body parts and hunks of metal flying low over her head.

"I came to remember those who died," she said. "I was lucky and was saved."

But unlike last year's first anniversary when the entire nation fell silent, most Spaniards carried on as usual Saturday. Cars and passers-by continued on their way along Paseo de la Castellana, the wide avenue that cuts through the capital.

"Madrid has turned the page and moved on," said Claudio Navarro, a 30-year-old communications consultant. "The anniversary fell on a Saturday, and people put their own personal interests above collective solidarity."

Many of the 24 suspects jailed in connection with the massacre are from Morocco, but some had lived in Spain for years.

"We want to express our solidarity and support for the Spanish people and show that the Moroccan people are a people of peace and against terrorism," said Mohamed Boujida, a member of the delegation that traveled from Morocco.

No one has been tried or even formally charged over the attack, but the judge leading the investigation said this week he expected to hand down the first indictments by April 10.

Unlike the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in America, which united Americans across political lines, at least temporarily, the Madrid bombings proved to be divisive.

In elections three days afterward, voters elected the opposition Socialists and unseated a pro-U.S. government that had sent 1,300 peacekeepers to Iraq. Many Spaniards blamed that administration for the attack, saying it had made this country a target for terrorists. The Socialists quickly brought the troops home.