Agents Try to Find Where Backpack Bombs in Spain Attacks Were Made

MADRID, Spain – Investigators searched Sunday for the place used to assemble the backpack bombs that blew apart four train cars during morning rush hour earlier this month, killing 202 people and wounding more than 1,400.

Spain (search) still grieves after the March 11 attacks. Thousands of people, including Madrid (search) Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, crowded the platform of El Pozo train station -- where one train was bombed -- for a funeral Mass.

The Rev. Jose Manuel Peco urged mourners to "reflect upon what we are going through, and reflect upon our capacity for forgiveness and reconciliation," the news agency Efe reported.

With seven Moroccans, two Indians and a Spaniard in custody, investigators focused on where the bombs were assembled. An estimated 220 pounds of explosives were used for the bombs, which were stuffed into bags and detonated by cell phones.

Ten bombs exploded, and four others failed to detonate. One was taken apart and provided clues that led police to suspects.

"We're now looking for the place where the bombs were put together," an Interior Ministry spokesman, who identified himself only as Jose Antonio, told The Associated Press.

The attacks, three days for national elections, also shook Europe. Spy chiefs from France (search), Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain planned to meet in Madrid on Monday to review the attacks and discuss improving cross-border cooperation.

Spanish Prime Minister-designate Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called for "much greater cooperation between intelligence services."

In an interview published Sunday in the daily newspaper El Pais, Zapatero also said "the focal points that produce fanaticism and violence" must be addressed, and ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was "absolutely necessary."

He repeated that Spain's 1,300 troops in Iraq would be withdrawn by June 30 unless the United Nations takes control of Iraq's occupation. Asked if he thought whether the U.N. could meet Spain's deadline, Zapatero responded, "My impression is yes."

Suspicion for the Madrid bombings has centered on a Moroccan extremist group said to be linked to Al Qaeda, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

In a videotape, a man claiming to speak on behalf of Al Qaeda said the group carried out the attack in reprisal for Spain's backing of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Five suspects -- three Moroccans and two Indians -- arrested March 13 are in prison following court appearances last week. They can be kept jailed for up to two years while investigators gather evidence.

The Moroccans included Jamal Zougam, who has been linked by court documents to members of an Al Qaeda cell in Spain.

Five other suspects -- four Moroccans and a Spaniard -- were arrested Thursday. They include Mohamed El Hadi Chedadi, the brother of Said Chedadi, an alleged Al Qaeda operative arrested in 2001.

The Spaniard, a former miner, reportedly is suspected of helping the Moroccans steal dynamite used in the Madrid bombings from an explosives warehouse at a mine. The second group of five is due to appear in the National Court this week.

Many Spaniards have accused Spain's outgoing conservative government of provoking the bombings by supporting the Iraq war. The ruling Popular Party fell in a surprise defeat in general elections on March 14 to Zapatero's Socialist party which, along with a majority of Spaniards, opposed the Iraq war.