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Friday, 3 December, 2004, 19:09 GMT

Series of explosions rock Madrid

A series of blasts has rocked the Spanish capital, Madrid, following a bomb warning from armed Basque separatist group Eta.

Five explosions occurred at petrol stations on the outskirts of the city as many people were leaving for a bank holiday weekend.

Police said the blasts, which followed an anonymous phone call, were minor, and no injuries have been reported.

The attacks were the first in many months to be launched by Eta.

The BBC's Katya Adler in Madrid says the co-ordinated, carefully timed blasts show the group is alive and well, despite a series of high-profile arrests and discoveries of arms caches.

Evacuated

Reports said Basque newspaper Gara had received a phone call earlier in the day from someone claiming to represent Eta.

The caller warned that a series of bombs had been placed at petrol stations on major roads leading out of the city centre and would explode at 1730 GMT.

Police said they were able to evacuate some of the petrol stations well before the blasts occurred.

This weekend sees the longest bank holiday weekend on the country's calendar.




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Related to this story:
Spanish raids net 15 Eta suspects (16 Nov 04 |  Europe )
Analysis: Lost opportunity for Basques (14 Nov 04 |  Europe )
Basque party calls for peace talks (14 Nov 04 |  Europe )
France finds big Eta arms dumps (18 Oct 04 |  Europe )
Eta: Key events (11 Apr 04 |  Europe )
Who are Eta? (11 Apr 04 |  Europe )
Country profile: Spain (20 Oct 04 |  Country profiles )

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Spanish Interior Ministry
Basque autonomous government
Gara newspaper
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