"These attacks were being prepared long before the Iraq war. They were not the result of the Iraq war even though many people said so," Aznar said during 11 hours of combative testimony on Monday to a parliamentary commission probing the attacks.
The March 11 bombings aboard four packed commuter trains killed 191 people and wounded 1,900 three days before a general election, and Aznar's mistaken placing of blame on Basque separatist guerrillas ETA was widely believed to have helped the anti-war Socialist opposition win on polling day.
Had ETA been responsible, it could have helped Aznar in the election by seeming to justify his hard line against the group.
The Madrid bombings suspects -- mostly North Africans who investigators say were waging an Islamic holy war against the West -- made videotapes claiming the attacks in the name of al Qaeda in Europe and said they were seeking revenge for Spain's dispatch of troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Aznar, making the first appearance by a former premier in a parliamentary probe, sought to defend his political legacy and give a boost to the now-opposition party with an appearance marked by political jousting and mutual accusations of lying.
Outside parliament, small groups of pro- and anti-Aznar protestors were kept separated by police.
"Aznar's hands are covered with blood. ... He is responsible for provoking this ... by involving us in the war," said Carmen Aguado, 52, whose son Juan Carlos, 27, was killed in the blasts.
Aznar fiercely fought back against accusations his government was responsible for the attacks because of the Iraq war, saying, "the only ones responsible are the terrorists."
Aznar chose not to seek a third term in the March 14 election and picked his protege, Mariano Rajoy, as the conservative Popular Party's candidate for the premiership.
Socialist Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero defeated Rajoy and on taking office immediately made good on his campaign promise to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq.
"I am absolutely convinced, as I have said before, that the March 11 attacks sought not only a large number of victims. They sought to overturn the electoral situation in Spain," Aznar said.
He declined to answer which way the election may have been swayed, telling one questioner, "You know."
Zapatero is due to testify on Dec. 13.
THE ETA ANGLE
Aznar defended his decision initially to blame the train bombings on ETA and called for further investigation into possible links between ETA and Islamic militants -- ties that most experts have discarded.
Aznar testified repeatedly that police commanders all believed ETA was the prime suspect until the election eve.
"My conscience is clear...we told the truth about what we knew," he said.
ETA has killed some 850 people during a 36-year-old campaign for Basque independence.
The parliamentary commission aims to offer a public account of the most devastating attack in modern Spanish history and is separate from the criminal investigation.
Some 30 people are in custody or under court supervision for the train bombings, one minor has been convicted, seven prime suspects are dead, and two or three others remain at large.
(Additional reporting by Daniel Flynn)
Mon Nov 29, 2004 03:36 PM ET By Daniel Trotta
© Copyright Reuters 2004.
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