The leader of the banned Basque nationalist party Batasuna has said he does not believe ETA was responsible for this morning's bomb attacks in Madrid.
Speaking on Radio Popular in the Basque country, Mr Arnaldo Otegi said he did not believe "even as a hypothesis" that ETA was responsible for the attacks in the Spanish capital.
He said the attacks could have been "an operation by sectors of the Arab resistance". Spain was a staunch supporter of US President George W. Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq.
The Spanish interior minister said authorities were "not ruling anything out" but added: "It is absolutely clear that the terrorist organisation ETA was seeking an attack with wide repercussions,"
"Any attempt to divert attention from those responsible for the attack is intolerable," he added.
Spanish Foreign Minister Ms Ana Palacio said there were indications that ETA was to blame. "Right now we have to wait until we have an official statement. We don't have this official statement, so we just can say there are some hints and indications that point toward ETA," she said.