Madrid Probe Focuses on ETA Splinter Group
March 12 -- Although the Basque terrorist group ETA has denied a role in Thursday's deadly Madrid bombings, Spanish investigators continue to focus on it — specifically on younger members who have formed a dangerous new splinter group.
U.S. and European intelligence sources tell ABCNEWS investigators are paying particular attention to a group of young Basque militants that has emerged in recent years and has been linked to a recent series of bomb attacks on civilian targets, including one at a Spanish resort last July.
The new group was formed after a campaign by the Spanish government led to the death or arrest of most of the senior ETA leadership.
"The group is composed of young operatives in their 20s who started as a street gang in the early '90s," said Alexis Debat, a former French Defense Ministry official.
Intelligence officials believe the group has been "influenced and inspired by" al Qaeda's tactics and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, according to Debat, who is a consultant for ABCNEWS.
One of the alleged splinter group members investigators are looking for is Jon Troitino, 23. One of Spain's most wanted men, he is suspected of masterminding the July bombing. Troitino's father and uncle are serving prison sentences for their roles in two separate deadly ETA bombings.
"There is this young, hard-core faction determined to bring ETA back to center stage," said Vince Cannistraro, former CIA counterterrorism chief and an ABCNEWS consultant.
Al Qaeda Also Under Suspicion
Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar and his government were quick to blame ETA after 10 bombs exploded along a commuter rail line in Madrid during the busy morning rush hour.
But the discovery of detonators and Islamic audio recordings in a stolen van found near where the trains originated — and an unconfirmed claim of responsibility from a group claiming to be aligned with al Qaeda — raised the possibility that an Islamist group was involved in the attacks.
Spanish police say they cannot rule out the possibility of a link between ETA and al Qaeda cells that have been operating in Spain.
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