JEDDAH, 13 March 2004 — The Arab world united yesterday in condemning the bombings in Madrid, but refrained from passing judgment on who was responsible for the carnage.

Saudi Arabia said it was shocked by the bombings which “killed and injured hundreds of innocent people.”

“The Kingdom is shocked by the atrocious explosions which took place in the Spanish capital,” an official statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency said. “The Kingdom condemns this criminal and shameful act, which flies in the face of all humanitarian values,” it added.

Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, also telephoned King Juan Carlos of Spain to offer their condolences, according to SPA.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak sent a message of condolences to the Spanish king in which he vigorously condemned “all forms of violence and terrorism”.

Late Thursday, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said he was “shocked” by “terrorist acts aimed at killing civilians,” sending his condolences to the families of the victims.

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi telephoned Spanish Aznar to offer his condolences and condemn the bombings.

In Lebanon, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri strongly denounced the attacks and called for drastic measures to eradicate such “criminal acts”. He called on countries worldwide “to act to eradicate this phenomenon which struck, without distinction, many areas and which spread panic and killed many innocent” people.

In the United Arab Emirates, the English-language Gulf News described the blasts as a “savage attack on innocent people”, an “atrocity which cannot be considered a political act.”

On Thursday, the UAE condemned the bombings as a “shocking crime”, as did the neighboring states of Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, whose leaders sent messages of support to the Spanish people.

In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar Assad condemned as “criminal and terrorist acts”. “We felt profound pain on learning of the criminal acts carried out at train stations in Madrid, which killed dozens of people,” Assad said in a message to King Juan Carlos carried by the state news agency SANA.

Jordan’s King Abdallah II also “denounced such terrorist action and blasts which killed innocent civilians,” in a message to the Spanish monarch, the Petra agency said.