Suspected ETA bomb explodes in Madrid

Emma Pinedo
Reuters
Monday, Feb 9, 2009

A car bomb exploded near a building occupied by a major Spanish company in Madrid on Monday following a telephone warning claiming to be from Basque rebels ETA and no one was hurt, police and emergency services said.

The bomb, near infrastructure group Ferrovial offices in the Campo de las Naciones neighbourhood, broke nearby windows and sent palls of black smoke into the wintry sky when it went off at about 9 a.m. (8 a.m. British time), a police spokesman said.

The blast came after Spain's Supreme Court late on Sunday banned Basque nationalist parties, Democracia 3 Millones and Askatasuna, from participating in March's regional elections in the Basque Country because of ETA links.

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"What ETA has done this morning shows that the Supreme Court did the right thing," Interior Minister Alfredo Rubalcaba told reporters at the scene of the blast.

Police had cordoned off the area after receiving a warning call claiming to be from the Basque separatist rebels roughly an hour before the blast.

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