US REACTION: US President George Bush yesterday telephoned Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar and King Juan Carlos to give "our country's deepest sympathies" to those who lost their lives in the Madrid bombings.
"I told them we weep with the families. We stand strong with the people of Spain," Mr Bush said, before leaving the White House for a ground-breaking ceremony in a New York suburb for a memorial to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"I appreciate so very much the Spanish government's fight against terror, their resolute stand against terrorist organizations like Eta," Mr Bush said. "The United States stands with them. Today we ask God's blessings on those who suffer in the great country of Spain."
Mr Aznar supported Mr Bush in the US-led war against Iraq despite strong domestic opposition. In an interview in yesterday's New York Times, the Spanish Prime Minister said he forgave the US for the wrong intelligence reports on Iraq's unconventional weapons.
"We all make mistakes now and then," he said. "If there was an intelligence agency that never made mistakes it would be called God, for those who believe in God."
The Spanish Ambassador to Washington, Mr Francisco Javier Ruperez, said he did not think there was any doubt that the bombings were the work of Eta.
"The ones who say al-Qaeda are friends of the terrorists to defuse the heat from themselves," he said.