Basque Separatist (ETA) Attack at Three Sites in Spain

At 19.40 hours (Barcelona time) there was an explosion that involved three explosive devices done by the "Armed Basque Organization" (or Organization of Armed Basques) ++ETA (++Euskadi t ++Askatuta). The explosions were aimed against Spanish tourists as a part of a campaign that started about two weeks ago. This attack is the latest in a series of explosives set off in different cities in Andalucia, an area south of Spain. Before the explosions occurred, the ETA/ABO sent warnings of the upcoming attack to the newspaper Egin of San Sebastian and to the AVUI of Barcelona.

Today's attempts, were in the airport of REUS, some 120K outside of Barcelona. During the summer, this airport hosts a large number of tourist flights including charters whose final destination is the Catalan coast and the foothills in the area.

The explosive devices were deposited in a paper sack inside the women's bathroom, a place that was sure to result in grave injury to a janitor who worked for the airport. It also resulted in the injury to 24 tourists, one an older English woman, who were waiting to board a flight bound for Glasgow after vacationing on the Catalan coast.

There were also explosions, without victims, in two cities close to the REUS airport: Cambrils, and Salou, both in the Province of Tarragona. ,

The members of the ETA/ABO have specialized in attacking sites visited by Spanish tourists since 1983 since negotiations with the Spanish government to obtain the independence of the Basque province to that of a nation.
++Pais (++Euskadi).

PRESIDENT PUJOL VISIT TO THE INJURED

President of the Generalitat of Cataluna (the autonomous governor of Cataluna) became very upset when he heard about the successful bombing attempts today in Reus and the cities of the Gold Coast, Cambrils and Salou. The President is, at this time, visiting the injured that are being attended to in the Hospital Joan XXIII of Tarragona.

The Reus airport is back in operation after the confusion initiated by the explosion. There were about one thousand people that could not be evacuated after the ETA sent a warning to the daily Egin and to Avui newspapers about today's bombing projected to be at 19:30 and 20:00 hours. However that only gave five minutes notice before the explosion at the airport. The second device, located in the hotel CAMBRILS PRINCEP, had the same amount of time to evacuate, but was probably able to avoid injury to those located there. The third device exploded in a central street of Salou.

Reports Courtesy of: Jose Real -- Director, Barcelona Airport Authority

(Reports translated from Spanish by ERRI, we apologize for an inconistencies or errors in this process)

Intel Brief -- ETA: Basque Homeland and Freedom

OVERVIEW:
Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA), a terrorist organization founded in 1959 and dedicated to promoting Basque independence. The group began its terrorist activities in 1968. ETA regularly targets Spanish government officials, members of the military and security forces, and moderate Basques for assassination. The group has carried out numerous bombings against Spanish government facilities and economic targets. In recent years, the Spanish government has had more success in controlling ETA due in part to increased security cooperation with French authorities. In early 1989, the Spanish government held a series of meetings in Algeria with ETA representatives in an attempt to reach an agreement ending the campaign of terrorism.

ETA has killed about 800 people in Spain since 1968. The ETA continue to operate in the south of France and occasionally bomb local government institutions, travel agencies, etc. Attacks against premises are often conducted with the help of local ultra-leftists

The ETA has been accused of working for the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and there is good evidence to show a working relationship.They have also been unconfirmed links to other South American nations either as political activists, or working for government or rebel organizations carrying out terrorist attacks on their behalf.

Until now ETA attacks against public sites usually occur late in the evening, in an apparent attempt to minimize casualties. However, there have been a number of murders of Spanish government employees and Basque moderates. ETA occasionally stages attacks against Spanish state and business interests in Italy

ETA may also stage attacks against French business and state-related premises in protest at France's help to Spain in its efforts to counter ETA in the French and Spanish Basque countries.

OTHER:
On Saturday 4 April the British newspaper the Guardian reported that all the leaders of the Basque separatist organization ETA had been captured in a police raid in France. While the claim that all leaders of the group were arrested seems highly unlikely, this may be part of the reason for renews violence and the new violence against the public.

ACTIVITIES IN 1996
The ETA has claimed responsibility for, and provided photographs of, a Spanish prison officer it kidnapped in January.

The group claimed responsibility for killing former Spanish Basque socialist leader Fernando Mugica in February.

On 14 February Jose Tomas y Valiente, Professor of Law at the Autonomous University in Madrid, who was shot dead by an armed gunman, believed to be a member of the Basque armed group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA).

They have also claimed responsibility for a grenade attack on the Civil Guard barracks in Urdax in June which caused damage but no injuries.

ACTIVITIES IN 1995
The following information is from the United States Department of State, in their report "1995 Patterns of Global Terrorism"

In 1995, Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorists conducted attacks on Spanish rail lines and stations, banks, police officers, and political figuresóincluding the assassination of the Partido Popular mayoral candidate in San Sebastian and the attempted assassination of the leading contender for the prime ministership. In addition, ETA targeted French interests in Spain in 1995. In February a suspected ETA bomb exploded at a French-owned bank.

Following a joint Spanish-French operation that thwarted a plot to assassinate King Juan Carlos while he vacationed in Majorca last August, suspected ETA members or supporters tossed molotov cocktails at a Citroen car dealership in Navarre, destroying five vehicles. In mid-December suspected ETA members detonated a car bomb in Madrid, one of the worst attacks in years that claimed at least six lives and wounded 15 others.

KNOWN COOPERATING GROUPS:
GRAPO
Elgin, a Basque daily newspaper

Intel Brief courtesy of; ERRI and U.S. State Department Archives on ETA