Controversies about the 2004 Madrid train bombings

2004 Madrid train bombing

The controversy regarding the handling and representation of the Madrid train bombings by the government arose with Spain's two main political parties, Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Partido Popular (PP), accusing each other of concealing or distorting evidence for electoral reasons.

## Events

[edit]

The bombings occurred three days before general elections, in which incumbent José María Aznar's PP was defeated. Immediately after the bombing, leaders of the PP claimed evidence indicated that the Basque separatist organization ETA was responsible for the bombings.[1] Such accusation led to a result which favours to the PP's chances of being re-elected.[1][2][3] The PP government involved Spain in the Iraq War, a policy very unpopular with many Spaniards.[4] Therefore, if a link between the bombings and the Iraq War involvement were established, it could have reduced the popularity of the PP[citation needed].

Nationwide demonstrations and protests followed the attacks.[5] A view amongst several political commentators is that the PP lost the election as a result of the handling and presentation of the terrorist attacks, rather than specifically due to the Madrid train bombings.[6][7][8][9] A 2011 study by Jose Montalvo published in the Review of Economics and Statistics reached the conclusion that terrorist attack had important electoral consequences[10] (turning the electoral outcome against the incumbent People's Party and handing government over to the Socialist Party (PSOE)).

After 21 months of investigation, judge Juan del Olmo ruled Moroccan national Jamal Zougam guilty of physically carrying out the attack.[11] The September 2007 sentence established no known mastermind nor direct al-Qaeda link.[12][13][14][15][16]

## Accuracy of government statements

[edit]

The conservative PP government was accused of falsely blaming ETA for the attacks[citation needed]. The day of the attacks, police officials informed the Government that explosives usually used by ETA were found at the blast sites[citation needed]. This, along with other suspicious circumstances[citation needed], led the PP to suspect ETA involvement[citation needed]. Although there was no direct or indirect evidence from the investigation of the bombing pointing to ETA involvement[citation needed], the group had been caught with a large amount of explosives some months previously[citation needed], which looked like preparations for a big strike.[17] According to a report of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC), the same morning of the bombings the Spanish Intelligence Services and Policy had concluded that the author of the massacre was an Islamist terrorist group, but they had been ordered by the government to deny this Islamist attribution and insist that the ETA were the only suspects,[18] although this same source also states that there is no precedent of collaboration of international Islamists with non-Muslims,[19] and there were two non-Muslims (and police informers) involved in the Madrid attacks.[20][21]

The government sent messages to all Spanish embassies abroad ordering that they uphold the version that ETA was responsible. Prime Minister José María Aznar even called a number of newspaper editors and publishers personally to ask for their support for this version.[22]

The tense political atmosphere in Spain in the period running up to the elections brought the PP to the edge of a political catastrophe. On one hand, José María Aznar was aggressively opposed to any dialogue with ETA, and based most of his campaign on the threat of terrorism (the September 11 attacks in New York reinforced his view of the war against the terrorists). On the other hand, Aznar's friendship with U.S. president George W. Bush led him to support the 2003 invasion of Iraq against the views of the overwhelming majority of the population (resulting in the biggest demonstrations ever seen in Spain since the restoration of democracy in the late 1970s).[23][24] This left Aznar in a complicated situation: if Basque terrorists were proven to be responsible for the massacre, it would favour the PP's campaign, but if an Islamic group appeared to cause the blast, people might blame him for earning himself (and Spain) enemies.

The Summary of the Judicial Enquiry concluded that the decision to attack Madrid was taken after, and as a result of, the invasion of Iraq. Nevertheless, The New Yorker claimed the decision was taken before 9/11[25] according to an Italian police report.[26]

## Explosives used in the attacks

[edit]

In the immediate aftermath of the train bombings it was suspected that the explosive used in the bombs may have been Titadine, as initial suspicions on responsibility for the bombings focused on ETA and this explosive had been used by them on occasions in the past.[27][28] As evidence emerged from the investigation attention on the explosive used switched to a brand of dynamite known as Goma-2.[29]

Analysis of samples from the explosion sites carried out by a member of the bomb disposal squad (TEDAX) following the bombings did not produce a definitive result. The analyst concerned later testified in the trial of those accused of committing the bombings. She stated that the only thing she could identify in these tests were generic components of dynamite.[30]

Later in 2004, in his appearance before the parliamentary committee of inquiry, Juan Jesus Sánchez Manzano (the head of the TEDAX) stated that traces of nitroglycerine had been detected in the samples recovered after the bombings.[31][32] He would later retract this statement before the investigating magistrate in charge of the case and emphasised that he was not an expert in explosives.[33] The statement by Sánchez Manzano led supporters of the idea that ETA was involved in the bombings[34] to question whether the explosive used in the bombs had been Goma 2 ECO.[35] Nitroglycerine is not a component of Goma 2 ECO.[36][37]

In the run up to the trial of those accused, the court ordered that fresh tests be carried out on the samples recovered from the trains and on remains of explosive recovered from different sites connected to the bombings. These tests were carried out by specialists appointed from the security services, the defence and other parties to the accusation. The judges ordered that video and audio recordings be made of these tests.[38] The results of these tests[39] were also inconclusive concerning the samples taken from the explosion sites. Nitroglycerine was detected in one of these samples, and the presence of dinitrotoluene (DNT) was also detected. This has led to claims that the explosive used could have been Titadine.[40] However, also detected in the same sample was dibutyl phthalate (DBP),[41] which is a component of Goma 2 ECO but not of titadine.[37][42] Several other samples from the explosion sites also revealed the joint presence of DNT and DBP.[43] Tests were carried out on a sample of Titadine.[44] In addition the presence of nitroglycerine and DNT was also detected in samples of Goma 2 ECO that had been recovered from sites associated with the bombings.[45]

The discovery of these different components led to suggestions that there could have been some accidental contamination of the samples and explosive remains, although a definitive cause of such contamination has not been established.[46][47] Entire cartridges, or partial remains of cartridges, of Goma 2 ECO were recovered from the apartment in Leganés where 7 suspects of the bombings died following an explosion, the only unexploded bomb, a Renault Kangoo van found near Alcalá de Henares station on the day of the bombings, and the device that was left by the high speed railway line connecting Madrid and Seville.[48]

The only explosive positively identified in any site connected to the bombings has been Goma 2 ECO and the sentence in the trial concluded that it was likely that the bombs contained this explosive or a mixture of it with its predecessor product Goma 2 EC.[49]

## Potential prevention of the bombings

[edit]

Some of the alleged Islamist perpetrators had reportedly been under surveillance by the Spanish police since January 2003. According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, 24 of the 29 alleged perpetrators were informers and/or controlled by the Cuerpo Nacional de Policía, Civil Guard and Centro Nacional de Inteligencia ("National Centre for Intelligence") from the time before the attacks.[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57] Two alleged perpetrators were Guardia Civil and Spanish police informants.[21][58][59] Cell phones used in the bombings were unlocked in a shop owned by a former Spanish policeman[60] who is not one of those accused in connection with the bombings.[61]

Two of those accused of supplying explosives for the bombings have a conviction for a previous 2001 offence of trafficking with Goma-2 ECO,[62] an offence that did not prevent Trashorras, described as "necessarily involved co-operator"[63] from later getting a job in a mine, thus gaining access to explosives and blast equipment.[64]

## Controversy regarding responsibility

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Thirteen improvised explosive devices were reported to have been used by the Islamic militant group that was responsible for the bombing, all but three of which detonated. This group seems to have had very tenuous connection with al-Qaeda but with the aim of acting on its behalf. Shortly after the bombings, the group was completely dismantled by the Spanish police and the core members died in an apparent suicide explosion when they were surrounded in the nearby town of Leganés.[65]

The Madrid bombings have led to the sharp political and social differences between the parties in Spain being accentuated. This stands in sharp contrast to other large-scale terrorist attacks such as those in New York and London, which galvanized society and political forces towards unity.

Spain's political division is exemplified by the accusation of members of the Partido Popular and several conservative media outlets regarding who was responsible for the bombings and whether the attacks were for political gain.[66] Some of these sources initially supported the hypothesis that ETA was behind the attacks. These groups have focused their investigation on unexplained details and inconsistencies in the Summary Report and have expressed skepticism about the truthfulness and neutrality of the evidence presented.

Since the bombings, the chief opposition party, PP (which lost power in the election in the immediate aftermath of the bombings), together with conservative media in Spain, have overtly argued the possibility that the Socialist party, the police, the Spanish, French, and Moroccan secret services, and, of course, ETA, had a role in organisation of the outrage.[67] Not all conservative media outlets were involved in this campaign. There is a distinct difference between those who believe that the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) used it for political gain (as it had access to information, either from France or through links to the Police, used to criticise the government in the aftermath of the bombings), and those who believe a consortium of the ETA, some groups in the State Security Forces (possibly related to the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL)), the Moroccan secret services, and the PSOE may have had a role either in organising the bombings or blocking official investigation.[68] The first group includes the Newspaper ABC, while the second group includes the Radio Station COPE and newspapers La Razón and El Mundo.[69] This second group claims the official version is more than questionable and that the truth is still unknown. They have coupled such claims with doubts about the legitimacy of the current government, which they oppose ideologically.

An attempt to link ETA to the bombings occurred in May 2006, when El Mundo published on its front page that a business card of the Basque firm Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (MCC) had been found in the van used by the terrorists. This piece of evidence, discovered by the policemen who found the van, was not found in the numerous police reports.[70] El Mundo's rationale was that Mondragón had no connection with ETA but could point to ETA, just as the Qur'anic cassette pointed to Islamic extremists.

The Spanish police later asserted that it was not a business card, but the cover of a music CD of the popular Spanish 1980s rock group Orquesta Mondragón.[71] The CD with its case was found in a pile of various other music CDs. The rear of the cover had apparently been used by the legitimate proprietor to warn people when he parked in the middle of the street, since it had a handwritten message that read "I am coming back immediately".[72] Nevertheless, El Mundo continued to insist on the existence of an MCC card in the van.[73]

The Spanish police also asserted that a card from "Gráficas Bilbaínas" ("Bilbao printing", a print shop located in Madrid) found in the van was the source of the alleged confusion.[74]

## Alleged destruction of evidence

[edit]

The passenger cars damaged by the explosions were supposedly destroyed to hide evidence 4 days after the explosion[75] and the corpses found in the Leganés flat were also supposedly buried without autopsy. Additionally, in December 2004, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero claimed that the PP government erased all of the computer files related to the Madrid bombings, leaving only the documents on paper.[76]

## Maussili Kalaji

[edit]

Mobile phones used in the bombings were unlocked in a shop owned by a Spanish policeman (who retired after the attacks) of Syrian descent and former al Fatah militant, Maussili Kalaji.[77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86] Kalaji was not one of those accused in connection with the bombings,[87] though the police proposed to take him into custody.[88]

## The thirteenth bomb

[edit]

Clues from the thirteenth bomb allowed the police to arrest the first alleged perpetrators, three Moroccans (Jamal Zougam, Mohamed Chaoui and Mohamed Bekkaliand) and two Indian citizens, on Saturday, 13 March.[89] The bomb has been called "the bomb that dismounted the PP version of ETA",[90] and was known to Spanish sources as "Mochila de Vallecas", "Backpack from Vallecas", because its discovery was announced in the Vallecas Police Station on the morning of 12 March. The thirteenth bomb's validity as an exhibit is disputed.

### Presence of the bomb on the train

[edit]

On the morning of the bombings, the trains were double-checked by the EOD police to be sure that no unexploded devices were present. The thirteenth bomb was not found at this time. The only EOD policeman who remembered handling a heavy bag (the thirteenth bomb weighed around 11 kilograms (24 lbs)) that morning in El Pozo station asserted positively that the heavy bag he handled in the train station did not contain the bomb.[89][91]

### Correct handling of the evidence

[edit]

A Spanish police report concluded that the bomb could have been manipulated by unidentified persons in Ifema (in Spanish, "pudo ser manipulada por personas no identificadas en el Ifema"), which was the Madrid exhibition center where objects found in the trains were temporarily stored. While DNA from an unidentified male was found on or in the bag,[91] Spanish police asserted that the 'chain of custody' was unbroken[92][93][94] and the PP leader, Mariano Rajoy, asserted in March 2006 that he had no doubts about the validity of this police exhibit.[95]

In December 2006 El Mundo claimed that one of the policeman in the Vallecas Police Station during the alleged discovery of the thirteenth bomb was under investigation for his alleged participation in a plot to sell illegal Goma 2-ECO, and in the assassination of a petty thief.[96]

## See also

[edit]

* Bologna massacre
* Conspiracy theory

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b Ray, Michael (4 March 2020). "Madrid train bombings of 2004". BRITANNICA. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
2. ^ Lago, I. (Universidad Pompeu Fabra) Del 11-M al 14-M: Los mecanismos del cambio electoral. Pgs 12–13. Archived 23 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ "Selected bibliography on political analysis of the 11-M aftermath". El Mundo. Spain. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
4. ^ 92% of the Spanish population expressed its disagreement with the intervention Clarin.com Archived 15 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
5. ^ Cf. Meso Ayeldi, K. "Teléfonos móviles e Internet, nuevas tecnologías para construir un espacio público contrainformativo: El ejemplo de los flash mob en la tarde del 13M" Universidad de La Laguna Archived 19 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
6. ^ El Periódico – 11M Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ El Periódico – 11M Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ El Periódico – 11M Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
9. ^ "Madrid Bombings and U.S. Policy – Brookings". Brookings.edu. 31 March 2004. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
10. ^ Montalvo, José G. (2011). "Voting After the Bombings: A Natural Experiment on the Effect of Terrorist Attacks on Democratic Elections". The Review of Economics and Statistics. 93 (4): 1146–1154\. doi:10.1162/REST_a_00115. JSTOR 41349103. S2CID 57571182.
11. ^ "Del Olmo sólo tiene ya un presunto autor material del 11-M para sentar en el banquillo / EL MUNDO". El Mundo. Spain. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
12. ^ Barrett, Jane (31 October 2007). "Court finds 21 guilty of Madrid train bombings". Reuters. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
13. ^ "ETA, Irak, Zougam, el explosivo... y otras claves de la sentencia del 11-M". El Mundo. Spain. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
14. ^ "El 11-M se queda sin autores intelectuales al quedar absueltos los tres acusados de serlo". El Mundo. Spain. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
15. ^ "El final del principio en la investigación del 11-M". El Mundo. Spain. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
16. ^ "El tribunal del 11-M desbarata la tesis clave de la versión oficial en su sentencia". El Mundo. Spain. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
17. ^ "Bombs Rip Through Madrid (Deutsche Welle)". Dw-world.de. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
18. ^ Les attentats de Madrid. Analyse prospective des menaces(17-03-04): "Nous savons, par nos contacts de travail habituel dans la communauté européenne du renseignement et les services spécialisés, que le Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI, les services de renseignement de Madrid) et les services antiterroristes de la police arrivaient, dans la matinée aux mêmes conclusions. Ils reçurent alors, des autorités gouvernementales, l'ordre de nier la piste islamiste et de continuer à prétendre que la piste de l'ETA était la seule valable. Cette attitude fut maintenue jusque dans la journée de vendredi".  Archived 10 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
19. ^ Ibídem: "Until now, there has never been any example of a terrorist action by international islamist made in collaboration with non-muslims". French original: Il n'y a d'ailleurs à ce jour aucun example d'une action terroriste menée par des islamistes internationalistes en collaboration avec des non-musulmans
20. ^ "Principales procesados por los atentados del 11-M". El Mundo. Retrieved 12 December 2011. "Rafá Zouhier was a confident of the Guardia Civil before, during and after the bombings...José Emilio Suárez Trashorras was also a police confident -Rafá Zohuier era confidente de la Guardia Civil antes, durante y después de los atentados José Emilio Suárez Trashorras También era confidente de la policía"
21. ^ a b "The two key collaborators of the Madrid train bombings were police confidents". El Mundo. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
22. ^ Remembering 11 March: The Madrid Bombings and Their Effect on Spanish Government, Society and the Antiwar Movement (Democracy Now) Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
23. ^ Noam Chomsky, The Iraq War and Contempt for Democracy.  Archived 2 February 2004 at archive.today
24. ^ "Polls find Europeans oppose Iraq war". BBC News. 11 February 2003. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
25. ^ Lawrence Wright, A Reporter at Large: The Terror Web, The New Yorker, 2 August 2004: "One of the most sobering pieces of information to come out of the investigation of the 11 March bombings is that the planning for the attacks may have begun nearly a year before 9/11"
26. ^ "Madrid: The Prime Suspect". Canada: CBC. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
27. ^ "Spain Reels From Deadly Bombings". CBS News. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
28. ^ "ABC: Los terroristas querían volar dos trenes dentro de la estación de Atocha". ABC (newspaper). 2 January 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
29. ^ "Bombing in Madrid: The Investigation". The New York Times. 13 March 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
30. ^ "La perito de los Tedax despeja las dudas sobre los primeros análisis de los explosivos". ABC (newspaper). 2 January 2011. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
31. ^ Declaration (Spanish) "Sessions of the parliamentary commission of investigation: 4th page first column"
32. ^ "Audio file with the declarations of Sánchez Manzano" Archived 10 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine
33. ^ Yoldi, José (18 July 2006). "El jefe de los Tedax declara al juez del 11-M que se equivocó al hablar de nitroglicerina". El Pais. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
34. ^ "Three years after train bombings, Spain is haunted by conspiracy theories". International Herald Tribune. 29 March 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
35. ^ "El explosivo que estalló el 11-M era distinto del que tenían los islamistas". El Mundo. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
36. ^ "Manufacturer fact sheet". Retrieved 12 December 2011.
37. ^ a b "NordExplosives fact sheet" (PDF). 10 November 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
38. ^ Yoldi, José (24 January 2007). "El País: El tribunal del 11-M admite la petición de uno de los acusados del atentado para citar a tres etarras". El País. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
39. ^ [1] [2] Archived 12 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine [3] [4]
40. ^ "El Mundo: El fabricante de Goma 2 EC asegura que esta dinamita no tiene nitroglicerina desde 1992". El Mundo (Spain). Retrieved 12 December 2011.
41. ^ "Test results pages 20–21 (Spanish)" (PDF). Retrieved 12 December 2011.
42. ^ Yoldi, José; Rodríguez, Jorge A. (29 May 2007). "El País: Detectadas 79 muestras con el componente Goma 2 ECO". El País. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
43. ^ "Test results pages 41–42 for example (Spanish)" (PDF). Retrieved 12 December 2011.
44. ^ "Test results page 146 (Spanish)" (PDF). Retrieved 12 December 2011.
45. ^ "Test results pages 22–23, 29–30 and 109–110 (Spanish)" (PDF). Retrieved 12 December 2011.
46. ^ Yoldi, José; Rodríguez, Jorge A. (30 May 2007). "El País: Los peritos atribuyen los resultados de los análisis a una mezcla de dinamitas Goma 2". El País. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
47. ^ "El Mundo: El hallazgo de nitroglicerina: entre la falta de explicación y la tesis de la contaminación". El Mundo (Spain). Retrieved 12 December 2011.
48. ^ "El País: Los peritos del 11-M no hallan sustancias ajenas a la Goma 2 ECO en lugar del atentado". El País. 13 February 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
49. ^ "Sentence of the court (in Spanish)". Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
50. ^ "El Mundo: 34 de los 40 que el juez implica en el 11-M estaban bajo control policial". El Mundo (Spain). 24 April 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
51. ^ Un inspector asegura que perseguían a varios de los acusados desde enero de 2003[permanent dead link‍], ABC:An inspector assures that several accused were being pursued since January 2003
52. ^ "The notes of the Moroccan informer 'Cartagena' prove that the Police had the 3/11 leadership under surveillance". El Mundo (Spain). 21 February 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
53. ^ Spain: State Funeral For Madrid Bombing Victims Gathers World Leaders: The main suspect remains Moroccan Jamal Zougam, who allegedly had close ties to Islamist militants and who has been under watch by Spanish, French, and Moroccan agents since 2001
54. '^ "Madrid bombing accused 'under watch since 2002". Expatica.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
55. ^ Spanish investigators confident Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine The lead suspect is Jamal Zougam, who allegedly has close ties with Islamist militants and has been under watch by Spanish, French and Moroccan agents since 2001 at least.
56. ^ "34 over 40 alleged perpetrators were controlled by the Police". El Mundo (Spain). 24 April 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
57. ^ 11-M: ¿Culpa in vigilando? Police made a follow-up on the prosecuted, due to his condition of being suspects of Islamic terrorists. De los acusados...la policía venía haciendo un seguimiento por su calidad de sospechosos de ser terroristas islámicos
58. ^ ABC Rafa Zouhier. Confident of the Civil Guard...Rafa Zouhier. Confidente de la Guardia Civil...
59. ^ "Rafá Zouhier was an informer for the Guardia Civil before, during and after the bombings...he did not inform about the preparations. José Emilio Suárez Trashorras was a National Police informer about guns, explosives and drug smuggling-Rafá Zohuier era confidente de la Guardia Civil antes, durante y después de los atentados... no informó sobre los preparativos...José Emilio Suárez Trashorras... era confidente de la Policía Nacional". El Mundo (Spain). Retrieved 12 December 2011.
60. ^ "Cell phones used for March 11 were unlocked in a phone shop owned by...a Spanish police officer. And not just any police officer: It was Maussili Kalaji". Nationalreview.com. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
61. ^ "Un inspector asegura que perseguían a varios de los acusados desde enero de 2003". ABC (newspaper). Retrieved 12 December 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
62. ^ ABC Trashorras y Toro, condenados a más de 10 años de cárcel por tráfico de drogas y tenencia de explosivos
63. ^ Madrid bombings trial: Key defendant refuses to testify:The seventh prime defendant is Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras, 30, of Spain, considered a "necessary cooperator" in the attacks by allegedly facilitating the explosives that were manufactured in Spain and stolen from a mine in the north.
64. ^ Trashorras volvió a trabajar a la mina tras la "operación Pipol": Trashorras worked again in a mine after the "operation Pípol"
65. ^ – Madrid bombing suspects (BBC News)
66. ^ Fear or Falsehood? Framing the 3/11 terrorist attacks in Madrid and electoral accountability (Real Instituto Elcano) Archived 18 October 2005 at archive.today
67. ^ Cultura contra la guerra organiza una manifestación contra el PP frente a su sede de la calle Génova (Libertad Digital) Archived 10 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
68. ^ (in Spanish)Los agujeros negros del 11-M El Mundo, 19 April 2004. Article defending a number of conspiracy theories related to the bombings.
69. ^ Spain's 11-M and the right's revenge Archived 23 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Open Democracy)
70. ^ La furgoneta Kangoo del 11-M tenía una tarjeta del Grupo Mondragón en el salpicadero (El Mundo)
71. ^ "Noticia bomba (El País)". El País. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
72. ^ Las últimas exclusivas de Pedro J. y Jimenez Losantos sobre el 11-M son desmontadas por la policía (La República) [dead link‍]
73. ^ "La furgoneta del 11-M tenía una tarjeta del Grupo Mondragón en el salpicadero". El Mundo (Spain). Retrieved 12 December 2011.
74. ^ "La Policía dice ahora que la tarjeta no era del Grupo Mondragón sino de Gráficas Bilbaínas". El Mundo (Spain). Retrieved 12 December 2011.
75. ^ "Un alto mando policial autorizó a Renfe a destruir los trenes del 11-M". Libertad Digital. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
76. ^ Tremlett, Giles (14 December 2004). "Aznar 'wiped files on Madrid bombings'". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
77. ^ "Cellphones used for March 11 were unlocked in a phone shop owned by... a Spanish police officer. And not just any police officer: It was Maussili Kalaji". Nationalreview.com. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
78. ^ (in Spanish)El hombre que liberó los móviles del 11-M dice que era policía y trabajó en la UCIE
79. ^ (in Spanish)[Una matanza diseñada para cambiar el http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2005/08/22/espana/1124680691.htmlGobierno de España] En la empresa Test Ayman, propiedad de Ayman Maussili Kalaji, fueron liberados varios de los móviles utilizados por los terroristas, entre ellos el recuperado de la mochila de Vallecas...[]...Kalaji, de origen sirio, era policía ...[]...Kalaji tenía contactos con los hermanos Almallah.
80. ^ (in Spanish)11-M: batiburrillo y casualidades Luego compareció Ayman Maussili Kalaji, un policía nacional de origen sirio, propietario de una tienda de telefonía que fue el encargado de liberar los móviles que los indios vendieron a unos desconocidos...[]...La única cuestión que plantea su implicación en el atentado es el cúmulo de casualidades que concurren en él. Fue el experto en telecomunicaciones que liberó los móviles. Y, además, era (ahora está jubilado) policía nacional y estuvo destinado en la UCIE, la unidad especialista en terrorismo islámico. Además es de origen sirio. Perteneció al ejército de su país. Recibió formación especial, se resistió a describirla, pero nadie quiso preguntarle en qué consistía esa formación.
81. ^ (in Spanish)El policía que manipuló los teléfonos móviles del 11-M se infiltraba en grupos islamistas
82. ^ (in Spanish)¿El policía que preparó las bombas?
83. ^ (in Spanish)¿Quién montó las bombas?
84. ^ (in Spanish)Un 'soplo' policial advirtió a Kalaji de que se estaba investigando su papel en los atentados del 11-M
85. ^ (in Spanish)Para comparecer tuvo que tener información
86. ^ (in Spanish)La familia Kalaji y el 11-M
87. ^ (in Spanish)Un inspector asegura que perseguían a varios de los acusados desde enero de 2003[permanent dead link‍]
88. ^ (in Spanish)La Policía sugirió al juez Del Olmo detener al agente Kalaji por el 11-M
89. ^ a b "La 'mochila de Vallecas' no estaba entre los objetos que la Policía recogió del tren". El Mundo (Spain). Retrieved 12 December 2011.
90. ^ Romero, José Manuel (15 March 2006). "La bomba que desmontó la tesis sobre ETA del PP". El País. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
91. ^ a b "El inspector que custodió los objetos en El Pozo no identifica ante el juez la 'mochila de Vallecas'". El Mundo (Spain). 13 March 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
92. ^ Rodríguez, Jorge A. (13 March 2006). "El agente que vigiló la mochila bomba del Pozo dice que siempre la tuvo controlada". El País. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
93. ^ "El sumario del 11-M muestra que la policía no detectó anomalías durante el traslado de pruebas". El País. 13 March 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
94. ^ .Los jefes policiales encargados del 11-M afirman que la bolsa bomba siempre estuvo bajo control · ELPAÍS.com
95. ^ Bidaurrazaga, Aitor Guenaga (15 March 2006). "El líder del PP considera aclaradas sus dudas sobre la mochila bomba". El País. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
96. ^ "Los policías de la Goma 2 investigados por tráfico de armas y un asesinato". El Mundo (Spain). 30 November 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2011.

* v
* t
* e

2004 Madrid train bombings

* Jamal Zougam
* Osman Rabei
* Detentions
* National and international reactions
* Controversies

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Conspiracy theories

List of conspiracy theories

Overview

| Core topics|

* Antiscience
* Cabals
* deep state
* éminence grise
* power behind the throne
* Civil / Criminal / Political conspiracies
* Conspiracy
* Crisis actors
* Deception
* Dystopia
* Espionage
* Global catastrophe scenarios
* Hidden message
* Pseudohistory
* Pseudoscience
* Secrecy
* Secret societies
* Urban legends and myths

|

Psychology|

* Attitude polarization
* Cognitive dissonance
* Communal reinforcement
* Confirmation bias
* Denialism
* Locus of control
* Manipulation
* Mass psychogenic illness
* moral panics
* Paranoia
* Psychological projection

Astronomy and outer space

* 2012 phenomenon
* Nibiru cataclysm
* Ancient astronauts
* Apollo Moon landings
* Flat Earth
* Hollow Earth
* Hollow Moon
* Reptilians

| UFOs|

* Alien abduction
* Area 51
* Black Knight satellite
* Cryptoterrestrial / Extraterrestrial / Interdimensional hypothesis
* Dulce Base
* Estimate of the Situation (1948)
* Lake Michigan Triangle
* MJ-12
* Men in black
* Nazi UFOs
* Die Glocke
* Project Serpo

| Hoaxes|

* Dundy County (1884)
* Maury Island (1947)
* Roswell (1947)
* Twin Falls (1947)
* Aztec, New Mexico (1949)
* Southern England (1967)
* Ilkley Moor (1987)
* Gulf Breeze (1987–88)
* Alien autopsy (1995)
* Morristown (2009)

|

Deaths and disappearances

| Assassination /
suicide theories|

* Zachary Taylor (1850)
* Louis Le Prince (1890)
* Lord Kitchener (1916)
* Tom Thomson (1917)
* Władysław Sikorski (1943)
* Benito Mussolini (1945)
* Adolf Hitler (1945)
* Subhas Chandra Bose (1945)
* Johnny Stompanato (1958)
* Marilyn Monroe (1962)
* John F. Kennedy (1963)
* Lee Harvey Oswald (1963)
* Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966)
* Harold Holt (1967)
* Martin Luther King Jr. (1968)
* Robert F. Kennedy (1968)
* Salvador Allende (1973)
* Aldo Moro (1978)
* Renny Ottolina (1978)
* Pope John Paul I (1978)
* Airey Neave (1979)
* Olof Palme (1986)
* Zia-ul-Haq (1988)
* GEC-Marconi scientists (1980s–90s)
* Turgut Özal (1993)
* Vince Foster (1993)
* Kurt Cobain (1994)
* Yitzhak Rabin (1995)
* Diana, Princess of Wales (1997)
* Vatican murders (1998)
* Nepalese royal family (2001)
* Yasser Arafat (2004)
* Benazir Bhutto (2007)
* Osama bin Laden (2011)
* Hugo Chávez (2013)
* Seth Rich (2016)
* Alejandro Castro (2018)
* Jeffrey Epstein (2019)
* Chan Yin-lam (2019)
* Sushant Singh Rajput (2020)
* John McAfee (2021)

|

Accidents / disasters|

* Mary Celeste (1872)
* RMS Titanic (1912)
* Great Kantō earthquake (1923)
* Lynmouth Flood (1952)
* Dyatlov Pass (1959)
* Lost Cosmonauts (1950s–60s)
* JAT Flight 367 (1972)
* United Air Lines Flight 553 (1972)
* Itavia Flight 870 (1980)
* South African Airways Flight 295 (1987)
* Khamar-Daban (1993)
* MS Estonia (1994)
* TWA Flight 800 (1996)
* EgyptAir Flight 990 (1999)
* Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (2014)

Other cases|

* Joan of Arc (1431)
* Yemenite children (1948–54)
* Elvis Presley (1977)
* Jonestown (1978)

Body double hoax|

* Paul McCartney
* Avril Lavigne
* Vladimir Putin
* Melania Trump

Energy, environment

* Agenda 21
* California drought manipulation
* Climate change denial
* false theories
* Free energy suppression
* HAARP
* Red mercury

False flag allegations

* USS Maine (1898)
* RMS Lusitania (1915)
* Reichstag fire (1933)
* Pearl Harbor (1941)
* USS Liberty (1967)
* Lufthansa Flight 615 (1972)
* Widerøe Flight 933 (1982)
* KAL Flight 007 (1983)
* Mozambican presidential jet (1986)
* Pan Am Flight 103 (1988)
* Oklahoma City bombing (1995)
* 9/11 attacks (2001)
* advance knowledge
* WTC collapse
* Madrid train bombing (2004)
* London bombings (2005)
* Smolensk air disaster (2010)
* Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (2014)
* Denial of the 7 October attacks (2023)

Gender and sexuality

* Alpha/beta males
* Anti-LGBTQ
* Anti-gender movement
* Chemicals
* Drag panic
* Gay agenda
* Gay Nazis myth
* HIV/AIDS stigma
* United States
* Homintern
* Lavender Scare
* Recruitment
* Grooming
* Litter box hoax
* Transvestigation
* Finger pinching
* Gamergate
* Ideology in incel communities
* Larries / Gaylors
* Satanic panic
* Soy and masculinity

Health

* 5G misinformation
* Anti-vaccination
* Autism
* MMR
* Thiomersal
* In chiropractic
* Misinformation
* Aspartame
* Big Pharma
* Chemtrails
* COVID-19
* Ivermectin
* Lab leak
* Vaccines
* Turbo cancer
* In Canada / Philippines / United States
* Ebola
* Electronic harassment
* Germ theory denialism
* GMOs
* HIV/AIDS denialism
* Origins theories
* Oral polio AIDS hypothesis
* Lepers' plot
* Medbeds
* SARS (2003)
* Water fluoridation
* Pont-Saint-Esprit mass poisoning

Race, religion and/or ethnicity

* Bhagwa Love Trap
* CERN ritual hoax
* COVID-19 and xenophobia
* Freemasons
* French Revolution
* Gas chambers for Poles in Warsaw (1940s)
* German POWs post-WWII
* Priory of Sion
* Product labeling
* Halal
* Kosher
* Tartarian Empire
* War against Islam
* White genocide

| Antisemitic|

* Andinia Plan
* Blood libel
* Cohen Plan
* Doctors' plot
* During the Black Death
* Epsilon Team
* George Soros
* Holocaust denial
* Trivialization
* International Jewish conspiracy
* Committee of 300
* Cultural Bolshevism / Jewish Bolshevism
* Żydokomuna
* Judeo-Masonic plot
* The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
* World War II
* Z.O.G.
* Judeopolonia
* Killing of Jesus
* Kalergi Plan
* New World Order
* Rothschilds
* Stab-in-the-back myth

|

Christian / Anti-Christian|

* Anti-Catholic
* Jesuits
* Popish Plot
* Vatican
* Bible
* Giuseppe Siri

Islamophobic|

* Counter-jihad
* Bihar human sacrifice
* Eurabia
* Great Replacement
* Love jihad
* Proposed "Islamo-leftism" inquiry
* Trojan Horse scandal

Genocide denial /
Denial of mass killings|

* Armenian
* Assyrian
* Bangladesh
* Bosnian
* Cambodian
* The Holocaust
* Holodomor
* Nanjing
* Rwandan
* Serbs during WWII

Regional

| Asia|

* India
* Cow vigilante violence
* Greater Bangladesh
* Pakistan
* Jinnahpur
* Philippines
* Tallano gold
* South Korea
* Finger-pinching
* Thailand
* Finland Plot

|

Americas
(outside the United States)|

* Argentina
* Andinia Plan
* Canada
* Avro Arrow cancellation
* Leuchter report
* Peru
* Casa Matusita
* Venezuela
* Daktari Ranch affair
* Golpe Azul

Middle East / North Africa|

* In the Arab world
* 10 agorot
* Cairo fire
* Kissinger Plan in Lebanon
* Israel-related animal theories
* Iran
* Western-backed Iranian Revolution
* Israel
* Pallywood

Russia|

* Alaska payment
* Dulles' Plan
* Golden billion
* Petrograd Military Organization
* Rasputin
* Ukraine bioweapons

Turkey|

* 2016 coup attempt
* Ergenekon
* Operation Sledgehammer
* Gezi Park protests
* Sèvres syndrome
* Üst akıl

Other European|

* Euromyth
* Georgia
* Global War Party
* Ireland
* German Plot
* Lithuania
* Statesmen
* Roman Republic
* First Catilinarian conspiracy
* Spain
* Mano Negra affair
* Sweden
* Lilla Saltsjöbadsavtalet
* UK
* Clockwork Orange plot
* Elm Guest House
* Harold Wilson
* Voting pencil

United States|

* Barack Obama
* Citizenship
* Religion
* Parentage
* "Obamagate" / Spygate
* Biden–Ukraine
* Black helicopters
* CIA and JFK
* CIA assistance to bin Laden
* Clinton body count
* Cultural Marxism
* Election denial movement
* FBI secret society
* FEMA camps
* Georgia Guidestones
* Jade Helm 15
* Montauk Project
* Philadelphia Experiment
* Pizzagate
* The Plan
* Project Azorian
* QAnon
* Pastel
* Incidents
* Saddam–al-Qaeda
* Sandy Hook (2012)
* Springfield pet-eating hoax
* Trump–Ukraine
* "Vast right-wing conspiracy"
* Vietnam War
* POW/MIA issue / Stab-in-the-back myth

| 2020 election|

* Italygate
* "Pence Card"
* Maricopa County ballot audit
* Stop the Steal

|

Other

* Dead Internet theory
* NESARA/GESARA
* New Coke
* Phantom time / New chronology
* Shadow government claims
* Bilderberg
* Illuminati
* synarchism
* Shakespearean authorship

| Pseudolaw|

* Admiralty law
* Freeman on the land movement
* Redemption movement
* Sovereign citizens
* Strawman theory
* Tax protesters

|

Satirical|

* Acre
* Bielefeld
* Birds Aren't Real
* Li's field
* Ted Cruz–Zodiac Killer meme

See also

* Argument from ignorance
* Conspiracy Encyclopedia
* Conspiracy fiction
* Conspirituality
* Dogma
* pseudoskepticism
* Falsifiability
* Fringe science
* Historical negationism
* Online youth radicalization
* Paranormal
* Prejudice
* Hate speech
* Radicalization
* Science by press conference
* Superstition

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