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Spain stands in solidarity with London
Queen Sofia and thousands of other Spaniards stood silently at noon Friday to express solidarity with the victims of the London bombings in a rare demonstration over a terrorist attack that did not occur on Spanish soil, officials said. Spaniards traditionally hold midday silent vigils outside city halls and other public buildings after major attacks by the Basque separatist group ETA. But Friday's demonstration in hundreds of Spanish cities was the first ever organized with such immediacy for a terrorist attack outside of Spain, a spokesman for the Spanish Federation of Cities and Provinces told CNN. The only other time was after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, said Jesus Diez Lobo, whose federation issued the call for Friday's demonstration. In 2001, the silent demonstration came three days later at the urging of the European Union, and not the day after, which is the typical style in Spain, Diez said. Queen Sofia, who was making a scheduled appearance at a Foreign Ministry aid agency event, interrupted the proceedings at noon to stand for a minute of silence along with other participants, a palace spokeswoman told CNN. "Spain is doing this out of solidarity with the London victims, and because of the solidarity that Spain received last year from municipal organizations abroad," Diez said. That international support came in response to the Madrid train bombings on March 11, 2004 that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500. Authorities blame those attacks on Islamic terrorists, and there are chilling similarities to the London attacks, including multiple bombs directed against commuters during morning rush hour on mass transit systems. The Spanish police unit that investigates Islamic terrorism was sending a team to London. It was expected to arrive on Saturday along with a bomb squad expert, a police spokesman told CNN. Their aim is to cooperate with the London police in the investigation. Posted by: Fred 2005-07-09 |
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