Countries Boost Security in Wake of Madrid Attacks
By Michael Mcdonough, The Associated Press
LONDON (AP) -- Nations must be prepared for terrorists to strike “whenever and however they can,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Saturday as European and other countries boosted security in the wake of the Madrid train bombings.
Several hundred extra troops patrolled train stations, airports and other sensitive sites in France, while Poland and the United States expanded security on their rail systems. Greece appealed to its NATO allies for help in safeguarding the upcoming Olympic Games.
“This is the new menace of our time. We will not defeat it by hoping it will leave us alone or by hiding away,” Blair told a conference of his governing Labour Party in the northern English city of Manchester. “We must be prepared for them to strike whenever and however they can.”
The death toll from the Madrid attacks rose to 200 late Friday, according to Spanish news agency reports. Some 1,500 people were injured in the coordinated detonation of 10 bombs on four trains.
Initially, Spain’s government blamed Basque separatists for the explosions, but the main group seeking a Basque homeland, ETA, on Friday denied any role. Investigators also were examining a claim of responsibility by a shadowy group in the name of al-Qaida.
Spain’s neighbor, France, responded to the Thursday morning rush-hour attacks by raising its color-coded terror alert level from yellow to orange -- from the lowest level to the next step up in the four-tier system. Late Friday, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the alert level was up one more notch -- to red -- at train stations and airports.
The heightened level doubled the number of soldiers on patrol at sensitive sites to nearly 500, the Interior Ministry said. French water reservoirs were also under tighter surveillance, and police measures were increased at the French-Spanish border dividing Basque regions between the two countries.
Greece on Friday asked NATO to provide aerial and sea surveillance against “a chemical, biological and nuclear incident” -- boosting Athens’ massive security preparations for the Aug. 13-29 Olympic Games, already costing a record $800 million and involving 50,000 police and troops.
In Germany, authorities in Bavaria and the city of Duesseldorf said they ordered police at train stations to be especially vigilant, though Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the overall threat level to the country had not been raised.
Poland -- which along with Spain supported the U.S.-led war in Iraq -- increased security at airports, train stations and other transport points. In Hungary, police tightened security at the Spanish embassy in Budapest and train stations.
Portuguese authorities preparing this summer’s Euro 2004 soccer championships said security concerns had shifted from rowdy fans to potential terrorist threats. Officials were mulling whether to install metal detectors at stadium gates.
“These bombings make us feel that the world is more insecure. We must ensure security is handled in the best possible way,” said Leonel Carvalho, the Euro 2004 security coordinator.
Portugal’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said it would put more police on the border with Spain, local newspaper Publico reported Saturday. No one was available at the Ministry for comment on the report.
Italy, Ireland and Belgium said they had not increased their terror threat level, which was also unchanged in Britain. The British Transport Police, which has responsibility for the train and subway networks, said it was monitoring the situation following the blasts in Spain.
Air travel in Britain and many other European countries are already heavily guarded after the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States. But security experts warned it would be difficult to give rail travel the same level of protection.
“You could put in place the same sort of screening process as for air travel. But the massive inconvenience would be unacceptable for most people,” said Kevin O’Brien, a terrorism expert with RAND Europe, a British-based branch of the RAND Corp. not-for-profit research group.
The Eurostar train network linking Britain to France and Belgium has luggage and passenger screening procedures similar to those at airports, but the vast majority of Europe’s sprawling and heavily used railway system lacks such measures.
There were no reports of boosted security in Russia in response to the Madrid attacks, but local authorities had already announced a heightened regime after a Feb. 6 blast on the Moscow subway that killed 41 people, blamed on Chechen rebels. The heightened measures include closer inspection of trucks entering Moscow and more patrols at subway and train stations.
Moscow authorities also reportedly increased security around the city’s main houses of worship in the run-up to Sunday’s presidential election. Russia has experienced a recent spate of terrorist attacks, including the Dec. 5 bombing of a commuter train in southern Russia that killed 46. Two bombings of other trains on the same line Sept. 3 killed six people.
In Washington, the Homeland Security Department issued a new bulletin about railroad threats, urging greater vigilance. Amtrak increased patrols of its police force and intensified electronic surveillance of bridges and tunnels, a spokesman for the passenger rail system said.
America stayed on yellow alert Friday, the third level in its five-tier system.