ETA's top man arrested.

by - Mon Oct 04, 2004 15:08

The Spanish press today carries this story for the first four pages on average of all newspapers. The arrests are being seen as the most effective counter ETA operation since 1992, when Mikel Antza took over the organisation after a counter ETA operation arrested the then leadership.

In contrast to coverage in south america and for example the linked radio nederlands which offers the opinion that the capture of Antza and his partner was a lucky surprise and bonus to a standard swoop on arms dumps.

In 1998 Mikel Antza held prolonged negotiations with the Spanish State in Algeria and Switzerland which led to a ceasefire and truce.

The Cuban state authorities have made reference to the arrest of members of a basque group, pointedly not classifying them as terrorist. In 1998 Anboto travelled to Cuba where her children (by Mikel Antza) were born. She returned to the French state in 1999.
http://www.cubaencuentro.com/sociedad/noticias/20041004/f2a63de85a7addbd564313a119b0d264.html

During the new year celebrations of 2004, the leader of the Catalan Republican party met with the leadership of ETA (thought to mean Mikel Antza) on the french side of the Catalan pyrennes, thereafter ETA declared "an end to military operations" in Catalonia.

ETA remained inactive for most of 2003 and 2004 returning to the news for a series of small car bombs on the northern spanish coast at the start of the tourist season. The last of these attacks being made on a electricity pylons- no-one was killed.

Spokespersons for "moderate" basque nationalists (who are arguing for referendum to allow basques decide on self determination) have maintained through the summer that ETA was again in discussions with the government in the form of the PSOE administration of Zapatero elected March 14.
****


In other developments (linked only by time) at the party congress of the PP, Aznar former president of the Spanish government accepted the new title of "president of the party", whilst his succesor and former protogé the galician Rajoy attacked the current government for its public inquiry into the events of M11 to March 14. The comission which is investigating the terrorist bombing of Madrid and the subsequent media manipulation by which the government blamed ETA has called Aznar to testify to the shock of his party.
Rajoy has called for an equal approach to uncover the truth of the GAL, a extra-military group which in effect pursued a dirty war against ETA during the first PSOE government.

by Justice! Mon Oct 04, 2004 17:24

Only a few months after PSOE has come into power, Galindo, member of GAL, the State sponsored terrorist organization that murdered 28 Basques during PSOE previous leadership, has been released. Galindo, who was the highest responsible of the infamous Civil Guard barricks (a torture chamber) in Intxaurrondo has been released after only serving 5 of the 75 years of prison he has been sentenced to for the apalling torture and murder of Joxean Lasa and Joxi Zabala. This man is now under house arrest, enjoying the high salary he still receives from the State despite the fact that he has lost his condition of militar and doesn't work. The reason given for his release is that he suffers a heart condition and the article 92 of the Spanish Penal Law provides that prisoners with serious illnesses may be released. However, Basque political prisoners such as Barandalla, who suffers cancer and is handcuffed to his bed when in hospital, are not being released under the excuse they haven't repented. Yet Galindo has not repented either, nor has PSOE.

With this release, the Spanish Government not only doesn't condemn GAL's violence, but celebrates it. Yet it supports the 'Law of Parties' which has been used against Batasuna and many other political and cultural organizations for that type of positioning or lighter things.
As a Basque politician has stated, "PSOE is the political branch of the terrorist organization GAL".

by RJP Mon Oct 04, 2004 18:35

It sounds like someone here is actually decrying the fact that these terrorist scumbags have been caught, with a shitload of explosives.

Not separatists, not activists, just terrorist scum

A job very, very well done

by - Wed Oct 06, 2004 14:33

Sunday saw raids on several bunkers where the explosives were found, Monday and again yesterday, continued raids on bunkers were made throughout the Basque on both sides of the spanish/french border.
Included in the arsenal listed to the press are two SAM7 rocket launchers, which have been attributed to Irish arms traffickers.
The arrested have been flown from Biarritz to Paris.

Small speculation has been made that the leadership of ETA might now pass to a seventy year old veteran who disappeared several years ago. But most of the press see this as "the end" of the organisation and speak of it's collapse.

For their part the PSOE government have said that this is the beginning of a large and scale operation to dismantle the military part of ETA, a project begun during the PP administration when it was seen as primarily dismantling the political and cultural wings of "basque extremism"/"basque seperatism"/"basque armed nationalism" / "basque problem".

by RJP Wed Oct 06, 2004 15:56

I hope you're right, I really do. The problem with terrorist movements during collapse is that they're capable of some exceptionally nasty horrible stuff. See Omagh for example.