For days, the world's attention has been on Madrid and the horrific bombings now thought to be the work of Islamic extremists, perhaps in retaliation for Spain's support of the war in Iraq.
Less noticed was a flurry of violence in Syria that could presage another dreaded consequence of the war - an uprising of Kurds demanding a country of their own.
The violence "was quite serious," says Rime Allas, an associate fellow at London's Royal Institute of International Affairs. "It would be foolish to ignore there are Kurdish grievances in the various countries where they are living."
Some 20-million Kurds, a non-Arab people with a unique language and customs, inhabit the mountainous regions of Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Denied a state of their own after World War I, they have clung to their culture despite often brutal oppression.
The latest trouble began Friday at a soccer game in Qameshli, a Kurdish city in northeast Syria not far from Iraq. According to witnesses, Arab fans waved pictures of Saddam Hussein and chanted pro-Hussein slogans.
That inflamed the Kurds, sparking clashes in which Syrian police opened fire. At least 14 Kurds were killed, dozens wounded and many buildings vandalized as Kurds rioted throughout the weekend. Kurdish exiles also stormed the Syrian Embassy in Belgium and the consulate in Geneva.
Fear of further violence sent Syrian officials rushing to meet with Kurdish leaders. For the moment, things are quiet.
"I think everybody involved realized an explosion of the situation would be to no one's benefit," Allas said.
Yet the rioting showed how volatile the Kurdish issue can be, especially as Kurds in Iraq win greater power and autonomy.
"The Kurdish minority in Syria has been emboldened by the success of the Kurds in Iraq," said Murhaf Jouejati, an expert on Syrian affairs at George Washington University. "One of the reasons Syria opposed the war in Iraq is that it feared the emergence of a Kurdish autonomous entity in northern Iraq, and that this would whet the appetite of the Kurds in Syria and Turkey" for autonomy.
Of Syria's 18-million people, about 10 percent are Kurds. Many complain of discrimination, but the situation is especially dire for the 250,000 or so Kurds who fled Turkish oppression decades ago. Considered illegal aliens, they are denied Syrian citizenship and cannot own property, attend public schools or hold government jobs.
Syrian President Bashar Assad, under fire from human rights groups, had been taking measures to integrate the Kurds into Syrian society, starting with a census to determine their actual numbers. The weekend violence could jeopardize that, Jouejati said:
"My fear is that the state would not want to continue immediately with these measures lest it be seen as bowing to pressure."
Since becoming president in 2000, Assad has also taken tentative steps to liberalize the economy, open the political process and repair relations with Israel and America, including cooperation in the war on terror.
But the Bush administration continues to criticize Syria for its support of anti-Israel groups and its pursuit of chemical and biological weapons. According to the BBC, America will "very soon" begin enforcing the Syrian Accountability Act, a tough set of sanctions passed by Congress last year.
Allas, of the Royal Institute, thinks Assad wants to move his country forward, but is "beginning to feel that no matter what (Syria) does, it can't do anything right."
"The war in Iraq was not handled well by the Syrian government - it didn't quite know what position to take," she said.
"The Syrian Accountability Act was completely ignored, they thought it wouldn't happen because it was too humiliating and too one-sided and they were really taken by surprise. It shows once again how Syrians are sometimes too concerned about their own issues and not looking at new situations on the ground."
Syrians were not expecting the Kurdish violence either - but it and the Spanish bombings are reminders that the war in Iraq has ramifications throughout the world.
