More arrests, threats in Spain

Spanish authorities announced two more arrests in the Madrid train bombings case yesterday as a purported letter from al Qaeda threatened more attacks that would "make blood flow like rivers" in Spain.

After a weekend siege in suburban Madrid in which four or five suspected train bombers blew themselves up rather than give in to capture, a handful of suspected accomplices remained at large.

"There could have been a series of Holy Week bombings, probably starting this weekend," a source close to the investigation said yesterday, adding that police were unsure how much of an arsenal remained in the fugitive bombers' hands.

Investigators were analysing a letter purportedly sent by Osama bin Laden's Islamic militant network to newspaper ABC that threatened more bombings unless Spain withdraws troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"If our demands are not satisfied, we declare war and we swear by Almighty God that we will turn your country into an inferno and we will make blood flow like rivers," the letter said, according an ABC Spanish translation.

"In principle, the letter is given certain credibility, although the analysis is not yet complete," an Interior Ministry spokesman said yesterday. "We believe it could have been sent by people directly involved in recent events."

The letter claimed responsibility for the March 11 attacks as well as a bomb planted on a high-speed rail line and defused on Friday.