Spain's outgoing government has declassified intelligence reports in a bid to counter claims it hid or manipulated information about who was behind the Madrid train bombings.
The blasts three days before general elections and public discontent with the way the government hastily blamed the Basque separatist group ETA helped propel the opposition Socialists to a surprise victory. The death toll reached 202 today.
"The government is going to demonstrate its innocence and honour," government spokesman and Labour Minister Eduardo Zaplana said. "Elections can be lost but what the government will not permit ... is being held up as a liar."
Where to place the blame was seen as crucial to the elections, political analysts said. The government stood to benefit from ETA implications because it would help validate its hard line against the outlawed group.
Conversely the government had reason to worry that voters might punish the ruling party if the bombs were seen as radical Islamist retaliation for Madrid's unpopular decision to back the Iraq war.
The government launched an unusual campaign to convince media and foreign governments that ETA was to blame, insisting in public and private comments that ETA was the main suspect even after growing evidence pointed to Islamic militants.
But Mr Zaplana and Interior Minister Angel Acebes said the government acted on assessments from the National Intelligence Centre (CNI).
The dossier handed out to journalists showed that intelligence services did indeed suspect ETA at the outset. But it appeared to be incomplete and also showed the government was keen to play down other possible leads.
The first intelligence report, dated the afternoon of the attacks, says ETA responsibility was "almost certain" but it also examines the possibility of an Islamic role.
The government dossier also includes a diplomatic telegram Foreign Minister Ana Palacio sent to all ambassadors less than two hours after this report, saying ETA's role had been confirmed by the Interior Ministry and urging ambassadors to publicise this.
"You should use all opportunities that present themselves to confirm ETA was the author of these brutal attacks, thus helping to dissipate any type of doubt which certain interested parties may want to raise about who was behind these attacks," it reads.
Ms Palacio's message went out as police were analysing their first big break in the case - a stolen van found near the railway station where three of the four bombed trains originated. Inside the van police found an audio tape with Koranic verses and bomb detonators of a variety not used by ETA.
The van also pointed away from ETA because it did not have falsified license plates - a hallmark of the group.
Officials revealed the discovery of the van on Thursday and said they had opened a new line of investigation, but they still insisted ETA was the prime suspect as late as Saturday afternoon - the eve of the election.
The documents handed out today include an intelligence services document suggesting that a letter claiming al Qaeda responsibility - one that came out on the night of the attacks - was of dubious credibility.
But the dossier lacked any intelligence assessment of a videotaped claim of al Qaeda responsibility, found on Saturday evening. Sources close to the investigation say the videotape likely was more credible than the letter.