The UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan has expressed "shock and indignation" at the deadly bombings in Spain as the 15-member Security Council went to work on a resolution to condemn the attack.
Kofi Annan
The French Ambassador to the UN Mr Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, this month's council president, said he hoped to have a resolution within hours on the simultaneous explosions that killed 186 people and
injured over one thousand on packed trains in Madrid.
Annan, on arrival at UN headquarters, told reporters, "It is indeed with profound shock and indignation that I learned about the terrorist attack in Madrid today. Once again we see senseless killing of innocent people."
"Killing of innocent people can not be justified regardless of the cause," Annan said, adding that he offered his "deepest sympathy" to Spanish King Juan Carlos I, the government, friends of the dead and injured survivors.
"I hope that the perpetrators will be brought to justice swiftly," he added.