A letter purporting to come from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network claimed responsibility for the train bombings in Spain this morning, calling them strikes against "crusaders", a London-based Arabic newspaper said.
"We have succeeded in infiltrating the heart of crusader Europe and struck one of the bases of the crusader alliance," said the letter which called the attacks "Operation Death Trains".
There was no way of authenticating the letter, a copy of which was faxed to Reuters' office in Dubai by the London-based al-Quds al-Arabinewspaper.
The letter bore the signature "Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades".
The newspaper received similar letters from the same brigade claiming responsibility on behalf of al Qaeda for a November bombing of two synagogues in Turkey and the August bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.
The message referred to last year's attack on Italian paramilitary police serving in the US-led coalition in Iraq.
"When we attacked the Italian troops in Nassiriyah and sent you and America's agents an ultimatum to withdraw from the anti-Islam alliance, you did not understand the the message. Now we have made it clear and hope that this time you will understand," the statement said.
"We, at the Abu Hafs brigades, have not felt sad for the so-called
civilians," the statement added, in an apparent reference to the hundreds of casualties in today's attacks in Madrid.
"Is it OK for you to kill our children, women, old people and youth in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir? And is it forbidden to us to kill yours?" the claim asked.