Former Spanish prime minister Mr Jose Maria Aznar said Islamic militants tried to use the Madrid train bombings to oust the pro-US ruling party from power in Spain, but not because of its support for the Iraq war.
"These attacks were being prepared long before the Iraq war. They were not the result of the Iraq war even though many people said so," Mr Aznar said during 11 hours of combative testimony today to a parliamentary commission probing the attacks.
The March 11th bombings aboard four packed commuter trains killed 191 people and wounded 1,900 three days before a general election, and Mr Aznar's mistaken placing of blame on Basque separatist guerrillas ETA was widely believed to have helped the anti-war Socialist opposition win on polling day.
Had ETA been responsible, it could have helped Mr Aznar in the election by seeming to justify his hard line against the group. The Madrid bombings suspects - mostly North Africans who investigators say were waging an Islamic holy war against the West - made videotapes claiming the attacks in the name of al-Qaeda in Europe and said they were seeking revenge for Spain's dispatch of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Aznar, making the first appearance by a former premier in a parliamentary probe, sought to defend his political legacy and give a boost to the now-opposition party with an appearance marked by political jousting and mutual accusations of lying.
Outside parliament, small groups of pro- and anti-Aznar protestors were kept separated by police. "Aznar's hands are covered with blood. ... He is responsible for provoking this ... by involving us in the war," said Mr Carmen Aguado (52) whose son Juan Carlos (27) was killed in the blasts.
Mr Aznar testified repeatedly that police commanders all believed ETA was the prime suspect until the election eve. "My conscience is clear...we told the truth about what we knew," he said. ETA has killed some 850 people during a 36-year-old campaign for Basque independence.
The parliamentary commission aims to offer a public account of the most devastating attack in modern Spanish history and is separate from the criminal investigation.