A Spanish man on trial for selling Islamists explosives to carry out the Madrid train bombings dismissed suggestions today that he worked with Basque separatists ETA, describing such talk as "rumours".
When the bombs tore through commuter trains on March 11, 2004, the conservative government initially blamed the attack on ETA guerrillas. Three years on, some right-wing groups are still trying to make the link, despite the state prosecutor saying there is no evidence of a relationship between ETA and the bombings, which killed 191 people and wounded about 2,000.
State prosecutor Olga Sanchez has said the attacks were inspired by al-Qaeda, but not ordered by it. "I don't have any relationship with ETA. These are rumours people have spread for their own ends," Trashorras said. Spain is deeply divided over whether ETA played a part in the 2004 bombings.
After the bombings, evidence mounted that Islamists, not ETA, were behind the blasts.
A video then surfaced claiming the killings in the name of al-Qaeda and said they were revenge for Spain supporting the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. Spain turned against the pro-US conservatives and voted them out of office in an election three days after the bombings.
The new Socialist government soon fulfilled a pledge to bring Spanish soldiers back from Iraq. Trashorras is one of 29 people on trial in Spain's first case on the train bombings.