On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 09:16:44 -0000, Simon Robbins wrote:
"Matthew G. Saroff" wrote in message
...
I recall hearing of such a threat in France, though not
from ETA, in about that time period.

Yep, could have been France, thinking about it. If that's the case it'd be
interesting to know whether the intelligence that resulted in the French
scare was related to the activities in Spain.

Probably not. The threat against railroads in France was very
different. In late February a group calling itself AZF claimed to
have planted 10 bombs along rail lines in France, and said it would
begin detonating them one by one if the French government didn't pay
the group about 4 million euros (about $4.9 million.) By March 5 it
was reported that 10,000 workers for the French state railway had
searched 20,000 miles of track and found no bombs. [1]

Or maybe even France was the original intended target, which was
switched when they became aware of the threat.

Doesn't seem likely. In contrast to the Madrid bombings, the
French threat seems almost Blofeld-esque. "My doomsday device
is in place, and I will begin to progressively destroy the French
rail network unless you pay me... [pause as villain strokes
white Persian cat] ... FIVE MILLION DOLLARS!"


ljd

[1] http://www.ble.org/pr/news/headline.asp?id=9660