"Al-Qaeda's recent statements indicated a potential attacks against Italy, Australia and the United States," Bakri

By Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Staff

CAIRO, March 15 (IslamOnline.net) – Stressing that "Al-Qaeda is no longer limited to Bin Laden and his followers, sources close to militant Islamic groups said that he Madrid blasts are probably not the work of Al-Qaeda group, rather it could be the work of ‘Al-Qaeda-style’ groups, with similar vision and targets to those of Osama bin Laden's network.

"People whose ideology and ideas are close to those of Al-Qaeda staged the bombings," Omar Bakri told IslamOnline.net on Sunday, March 14.

Bakri, the head of the London-based extremist Jama'at Al-Muhajirun, said that the blasts – which left some 200 people dead and some 1,500 others injured five days ago – came in reaction to policies of the United States and its allies.

"These groups, already sympathetic with Al-Qaeda, were pushed by what the U.S., European allies as well as Arab and Islamic puppet countries do against Islam and believers," Bakri said over phone.

“The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq added more salt to their injuries and made them more angry”, he added.

Spain’s Interior Minister Angel Acebes said earlier on Sunday that Al-Qaeda network has claimed anew responsibility for Madrid’s train blasts in a videotaped message.

On the tape, a man claiming to be the military spokesman of Al-Qaeda said the attacks came in reprisal for Spain’s staunchest support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The U.S. launches an open war against Islam and Muslims across the world, and the Mujahedeen face up to Washington and its allies in a similarly open war regarding goals and grounds," Bakri said.

Bakri warned against what he called more upcoming attacks in spots mentioned or insinuated at in Al-Qaeda statements.

"Al-Qaeda's recent statements indicated a potential attacks against Italy, Australia and the United States," he said.

Bakri’s group, considered extremist, organized last year a conference on motives leading the 19 hijackers, who Washington blames for the 9/11, to carry out the attacks.

No Longer Limited To Bin Laden

"Al-Qaeda is no longer limited to Bin Laden and his followers, but it has rather turned into a sentiment spilling over all of the Ummah (nation) without exception," he added.

Spain’s opposition socialists ousted on Sunday the ruling conservatives from power in a major dramatic change after the Thursday blasts,

Spain's next prime minister will be 43-year-old Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose first acts as prime minister could be the withdrawal of the Spanish troops from Iraq, Reuters said.

Bakri believed that Spain was picked for the Thursday attacks because it is "the weakest security cycle in Europe" and that "believers want to strike hard with less damages incurred".

Bakri added that Youssef Al-Ayeiri, a key defender for Al-Qaeda, urged the network one year ago to exploit the security flap in the European country.

Spanish officials and analysts clearly keep the accusing finger at the ETA separatists, saying that taking the blame to Al-Qaeda could be rather a distraction. 

Abu Hafs Al-Masri Is A Myth

The U.S. strikes against Iraq and Afghanistan "enlarged armed opposition to Washington and its allies that joined or justified war against Iraq," Serri

A few hours after the Thursday blasts, the London-based Arabic newspaper, Al Quds Al-Arabi, reported receiving an e-mail purportedly admitting responsibility on behalf of "Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades/Al-Qaeda".

"There is no group called Abu Hafs Al-Masri in the first place. Al-Qaeda used to claim responsibility for the attacks through audio tapes in the voice of Bin Laden or his top aide Ayman Al-Zawahri," said Yasser Serri, head of the London-based Islamic Observation Center.

Serri doubted the credibility of the group, saying it had claimed responsibility of a number of attacks which later proved untrue.

The BBC News Online quoted the U.S. intelligence as saying that Al-Masri Brigades is lacking in credibility.

The same group claimed responsibility for the huge power failures in New York and Canada last year, failures which turned out to have nothing to do with terrorism, it added.

U.S. intelligence and Spanish officials said it is not Al-Qaeda's habit to claim responsibility so early.

Serri said that the U.S. strikes against Iraq and Afghanistan "enlarged armed opposition to Washington and its allies that joined or justified war against Iraq".

The attacks were carried out by groups "agreeing with Al-Qaeda in vision and goals," – something which Serri said could interpret several operations carried out by groups in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Morocco and Tunisia".

'Electronic Agents'

Serri warned against what he called U.S. and western agents on the internet that claim attacks in the name of other groups.

"Those agents, along with a number of Jihad zealots on the web, who rush into falsely claiming responsibilities of attacks under the names of other groups, make a great disservice to Islam and Muslims especially those living the countries attacked," he said.

Montasser Al-Zayat, a lawyer of Islamic groups in Cairo, doubted that Al-Qaeda is behind the Madrid blasts, however saying that they could be the work of the group's sympathizers.

"When Al-Qaeda claims an operation, it will give a declaration with the minutest details" on it, Zayat said.

"Until this happens, I will keep doubting that Al-Qaeda is to blame," he said.

Al-Qaeda is now involved in "open fronts" in Afghanistan and Baghdad, something which discredited reports their alleged responsibility for the blasts, he added.