Spain Bombings: Five Held

At a press conference late on Saturday, the minister said the five were arrested in connection with a cell phone found inside an explosives-packed gym bag found on one of the bombed commuter trains.

Suspected complicity

All the detentions were made "for presumed implication in the sale and falsification of the phone and SIM cards found in the bag".

Two Spaniards of Indian origin are also being questioned but are not expected to be arrested, Acebes said.

"This is an open investigation which is only just starting. At the moment, there is a search going on in various buildings and homes.

"It’s the beginning of the investigation, but it opens an important path to advance down … I give you this information with a lot of caution and prudence."

Grief

Earlier in the day, traumatised Spaniards started burying those killed in the blasts.

The nation’s grief was crystallised on Saturday at a funeral service in Alcala de Henares, home to 40 of the killed in Thursday’s atrocities. It was supposed to be an official "day of reflection" prior to the general election.

Demonstrating the depth of feeling in Spain, the government said 11.64 million people – more than a quarter of Spain’s population – had taken to rain-drenched streets in nationwide protests on Friday against "our September 11".

Investigation

Meanwhile, a Spanish radio station on Saturday said Spain’s intelligence service is "99% certain" that ‘Islamist’, and not Basque, fighters carried out the bombings.

The report by private radio SER, whose owners have links to the opposition Socialists, went against government claims that the Basque armed group ETA was the prime suspect in the attacks.

It fuelled grumbling from critics that Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar’s government might be focusing on the Basque group, rather than al-Qaida, for internal political gain ahead of Sunday’s election. Ministers angrily denied the charge.