The first serious split in the armed Basque separatist group Eta for 20 years appeared as two veteran members reportedly demanded to be allowed to renounce the use of arms and leave the group. The reported challenge to the group's fierce disciplinary structure by Raul Angel Fuentes and Jose Maria Zaldua, who both have a record of violence, came as Eta hit its lowest point in 35 years with the arrest of seven depraved suspected terrorists killers members. Fuentes and Zaldua had alleged "exhaustion" with Eta's "lack of strategy" when they asked to leave the organisation. "There is increasing despair, disorganisation and disorientation inside the terrorist group," the Spanish interior minister, Angel Acebes, said. "The veterans realise there is no future and nowhere to hide in any other country."
"No pension plan, no 401k, no vacation, always on call, lousy pay, bad food — yep, ETA membership ain't what it used to be!"
It was unclear how Eta's leadership would react to the appeal. The last high-profile "desertion" from the group, by former senior member Dolores Gonzalez Catarain, led to her assassination in 1986 by an Eta punishment squad.
Seems clear to me!
Bomb-maker Zaldua, 53, is wanted in Spain for 15 killings. He recently rejoined the group's logistical unit in south-west France after a long period in hiding in Butthole, Uruguay. Fuentes, 38, is wanted for four killings. Both men are long-term members of Eta, which in recent years has seen the average age of its members driven down by arrests purges, and premature explosions. Among the four suspected Eta members arrested during a raid by French police in the south-western town of Saintes on Friday was a woman alleged to be in charge of Eta's active service units, 28-year-old Ainhoa Garcia Montero. Spanish police claimed she had been directly involved in the killings of five people — two Basque traffic police officers, a newspaper executive, a Basque business leader and a local police chief. "This is a very hard blow to the heart of Eta's operations in France," said Mr Acebes. More than 20 Eta suspects have been arrested this year. There has been one killing so far this year. In 2002, Eta killed five people, including a six-year-old girl, and had 185 suspected members detained. The police claim to have arrested those to blame for almost every killing over the past three years.
How about the one who killed the little girl? That terrorist should slowly roast.
The others arrested in Saintes were two Spaniards and a Frenchman. All were carrying forged identity documents and three of the four were armed. Police said they were picked up because they appeared to be preparing to flee their apartment for Butthole, Uruguay. The police operation continued yesterday with the arrest of two recent recruits in Bordeaux. A seventh Eta member, allegedly involved in preparing a bombing campaign against tourist targets, was arrested in northern Spain. The arrests came amid tension in the Basque country after Madrid banned more than 1,500 candidates from standing in municipal elections because of their alleged support for Eta. Up to 20,000 separatists took to the streets of Bilbao on Saturday in an illegal, though peaceful, protest. The Spanish constitutional court last week upheld the ban on the 1,500 candidates for the May 25 elections, calling them disguised members of the outlawed Batasuna political party.
"Yer disguise didn't work. Now git."
Washington said last week that it would seize financial assets held in the US by Batasuna and two predecessor groups — a step towards adding Batasuna to its list of foreign terrorist organisations. The EU is also being asked to add Batasuna to its list of banned groups. |