Car bomb in Madrid injures 52

A car bomb injured at least 52 people in the Spanish capital yesterday in an apparent rebuff by Basque separatist guerillas ETA to government peace overtures.

The bomb, in a stolen van, blew up in an industrial zone in northeastern Madrid 45 minutes after a Basque newspaper received a warning in the name of ETA, officials said.

The warning gave police time to seal off the area, but dozens were hurt by flying glass or the force of the blast.

The bomb, estimated to contain up to 20 kgs of explosive, turned the van into a mangled lump of metal, wrecked about 10 parked cars and smashed windows in nearby buildings, including an Opel car showroom, witnesses and news reports said.

Emergency services treated 52 people at the scene, five of whom had to be taken to hospital, a spokesman said. "The terrorist organisation ETA continues to be alive, active and operational and we are fighting it with all our determination," Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said.

He urged Spaniards to "lower the noise level" after an unprecedented parliamentary vote last week raised speculation over a possible ETA truce to a new pitch.

The blast appeared to be an ETA's defiant response to the vote that granted the government permission to open peace talks with the group if it laid down its arms.

The bomb came two days after French police detained three suspected ETA members and hours before two leaders of Batasuna, banned as the political wing of ETA, were due to appear in a Madrid court to answer charges of belonging to ETA.

Leaders of the opposition Popular Party (PP) attacked Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's policy towards ETA, saying it was a mistake to make concessions to the group.