Car Bomb Injures 99 In Madrid

A car bomb rocked a busy Madrid area during morning rush hour Tuesday, injuring about 100 people, authorities said. Within an hour of the blast, police arrested a man and a woman suspected of setting off the explosion for the Basque separatist group ETA.

The bomb mangled more than a dozen cars and shattering windows along Corazon de Maria street in northeastern Madrid as thousands of people headed to nearby offices and schools. The street parallels the main highway to the international airport and is in one of the capital's busiest areas.

Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy said the bombers' target appeared to be Juan Junquera, secretary general of the government's scientific policy department, whose official car was passing by when the bomb went off. Junquera, a former interior and defense ministry official, was slightly injured.

ETA has killed around 800 people since 1968, 35 of them since it ended a 14-month ceasefire in December 1999.

Ninety-nine people were treated for injuries, almost all for cuts and shock, ambulance service spokesman Emilio Benito said. By midday, only four remained in hospitals, including a woman and her 3-year-old child, whose injuries weren't life-threatening.

Police said they arrested two people nearby who were carrying explosives, a pistol and wigs after the blast. A passer-by telephoned police after seeing the suspects make their get-away in a second car. Explosives experts carried out a controlled explosion on the vehicle shortly after.

They were identified by the Interior Ministry as Aitor Garcia Aliaga, a suspected ETA member, and Ana Belen Egues Gurruchaga, a former town councilor for Herri Batasuna, a political party closely linked to ETA.

"If things had occurred differently we could be mourning the deaths of many innocent people, which demonstrates once again ...ETA's...brutality, savageness and total lack of respect for people's lives," Rajoy told reporters.

Politicians in Spain have urged ETA to follow the lead of the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, which began to disarm last month as part of a peace deal.

ETA has insisted it will not give up its demand for Basque self-determination allowing the creation of an independent state carved out of northern Spain and southwestern France.

The ETA claimed responsibility for a car-bomb explosion Oct. 12 at a municipal garage under Plaza Colon that injured 17 people.

Last week, police arrested more than a dozen members of two organizations linked to the ETA, whose initials stand for Basque Homeland and Freedom.

A pro-independence political party widely associated with ETA saw its share of the vote fall to 10 percent in a Basque regional election in May.

However, about half of Basque voters support parties which favor self-determination or outright independence.

The latest bombing was condemned by Spain's major political parties. However, Arnaldo Otegi of the ETA-linked Batasuna coalition said the bombing and las week's arrests were "evidence of the political conflict" and urged Spanish leaders to negotiate a solution.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar says he will not discuss any concessions to ETA or moves which could lead to the break-up of Spain, arguing that the Basque region already enjoys more autonomy than any other region in Europe.

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