">Forum Views () 
">Forum Replies ()  
 
 
Read more with google mobile :
Joint operation thwarted new ETA attack: Spain  
 
 
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
Yahoo! Search
Search:
Sign InNew User? Sign Up
News Home -
Help
  
 
  
Navigation
Primary Navigation
 
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Secondary Navigation
 
Africa
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
North America
 
Search
 
 
Search:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Joint operation thwarted new ETA attack: Spain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 AFP -  58 minutes ago
MADRID (AFP) - - French and Spanish security forces thwarted a new ETA attack with the arrest of the military chief of the Basque separatist group and eight other suspected members, the Spanish government said on Sunday.
ADVERTISEMENT
  
Jurdan Martitegi -- considered the head of ETA's military operations -- was captured on Saturday along with two other suspected ETA members at a village in southwestern France.
Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said police located Martitegi by following one of the two other suspects, Alexander Uriarte, who had gone to France to get "instructions" from Martitegi about a new attack being planned.
The minister gave no further details.
A further six ETA suspects were arrested in Spain's northern Basque Country later Saturday as part of the same operation.
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero hailed the arrests.
"I can assure you that we are going to be finished with this historical wound," he said. "We are going to be finished with terrorism, with ETA."
Rubalcaba told a news conference that the "brilliant operation" on Saturday was the culmination of a six-month period that had been "particularly profitable" in the fight against ETA.
Martitegi's presumed predecessor, Aitzol Iriondo, was arrested in France on December 8. Iriondo had himself replaced Miguel de Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, who was captured in France on November 17.
ETA, considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, is blamed for the deaths of 825 people in its 40-year campaign of bombings and shootings to carve a Basque homeland out of parts of northern Spain and southwestern France.
It resumed attacks in mid-2007 after a 15-month truce following a deadlock in tentative peace talks with the Zapatero government.
Rubalcaba Sunday reaffirmed that the government would not reopen negotiations with ETA.
"That's a process in the past, and the past never comes back," he said.
The minister said the only question now "is whether or not ETA is going to abandon" its violent campaign.
"It is true that within the organisation and in its entourage there is a discussion about whether or not to abandon the armed fight," he said.
ETA earlier this month warned that the incoming regional government of the Basque Country lacked "democratic legitimacy" and would be its "priority target."
The leader of the Basque Socialist Party, Patxi Lopez, is set to become the head of the regional Basque government under a deal reached between the party and the conservative Popular Party earlier this month following local elections in March.
Lopez, who will replace Juan Jose Ibarretxe of the moderately nationalist PNV party, will be the first leader of the Basque government who unequivocally backs the region's unity with Spain since it was granted wide autonomy in 1979.
The Basque region has been run for nearly 30 years by the PNV on a platform that flirts with independence.
 
 
 
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
 
 
   
Recommend this article
0 users recommend
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
  
Related Articles: World
Mass. displays nation's founding papers for publicAP -  15 minutes ago
US boycotting, Iran starring, at UN racism meetingAP -  16 minutes ago
White House: Some banks will show serious woesAP -  21 minutes ago
Correction: Fishing boat sinking storyAP -  22 minutes ago
Pope: UN racism conference 'important'AP -  25 minutes ago
 
 
 
 
 
 Enlarge Photo
 
The Spanish government said French and Spanish security forces have thwarted a new ETA attack with the arrests of nine suspected members of the Basque separatist group, including military chief Jurdan Martitegi.
 
 
 
Most Popular – World
 
 
 
 
 
 Viewed
 
 
 
 
Mummies found in ancient Egypt burial chamber
 
 
'Dracula bandit' gets 20-yr jail sentence
 
 
Police nab Norwegian pair during high-speed sex
 
 
Ailing Citigroup returns to profit after heavy losses
 
 
Britain's MI5 seeking real 'Q'
 
 
View Complete List »
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy 
- Terms of Service 
- Community 
- Intellectual Property Rights Policy 
- Help
        
    
   
 
Other News on Sunday, 19 April 2009 NATO frees pirate hostages, Belgian ship seized
| International
|  
Iran jails U.S.-Iranian reporter for 8 years
| International
|  
Suicide car-bomber kills 27 in Pakistan
| International
|  
ETA military chief arrested in France: Spanish source
| International
|  
Mugabe, Tsvangirai show rare unity in ceremony
| International
|  
Thousands protest widening Turkish coup plot probe
| International
|  
Iran says its military might help regional security
| International
|  
Opposition attacks ANC in last rallies before vote
| International
|  
Afghan quake survivors struggling without aid
| International
|  
Pirate Bay's fileshare four get year in jail
| Technology
|  
Bai Ling cranks up moonstruck life for High Voltage
| Entertainment
|  
Three dead in suspected US strike in Pakistan  
Afghan army grapples with shortages  
Shells hit Baghdad's Green Zone after 3-month lull  
U.S. drone hits militant camp in Pakistan
| International
|  
New-look auto sector could emerge from crisis  
Iran jails U.S.-Iranian reporter for 8 years  
US vastly expands its DNA databases  
Palestinian teen killed by Israeli troops  
Eight killed in Mexico in foiled drug gang rescue
| International
|  
France, Spanish police arrest ETA chief, 8 others  
U.S. and Venezuela work to mend ties
| International
|  
Thousands protest widening Turkish coup plot probe  
Obama to convene cabinet to cut govt spending  
U.S. will boycott U.N. conference on racism
| International
|  
Israel primed to strike Iran nuclear sites: report  
Thai emergency rule to stay for now: PM
| International
|  
China PM Wen reassures over economy  
Iran urges regional peace on Army Day  
Palestinian driver injures two Israeli policemen  
U.S. says watching China's naval expansion closely
| International
|  
Turkey pledges to help train Somali armed forces  
China extends help to Hong Kong during economic crisis
| International
|  
Congress considers major global warming measure  
Iran jails US reporter for eight years  
US-TECH Summary  
US family of 5 killed in apparent murder-suicide  
Samsung display unit sees robust smartphone growth
| Technology
|  
US 'will not join' anti-racism conference  
Venezuela's Chavez to restore ambassador in US  
US to boycott United Nations racism meeting  
British watchdog wants post-G20 debate on policing  
Obama disappointed by reporter's Iran sentencing  
Lawyer: Iran convicts US journalist of spying  
France arrests top ETA leader: Spanish radio  
Senator says spy case `miscarriage of justice'  
Royal apologises again for Sarkozy comments  
G8, G5 farm ministers meet on food crisis  
London police face new G20 protest claim  
Belgian ship seized as Dutch thwart pirate attack  
Pope to visit quake-hit L'Aquila  
2 Koreas to hold first dialogue in a year  
Suspected US missiles kill 3 in NW Pakistan  
Thai PM says emergency rule to stay for now  
Madonna suffers minor injuries in fall from horse
| Entertainment
|  
15 suspicious deaths in China jails in 2009 alone  
Moderate quake rattles China's northwest  
Thai PM calls for calm after unrest  
Sri Lanka: More than 2,800 flee war zone  
Vietnam top official on Japan visit  
Australia joins UN racism conference boycott  
Macau casinos' luck begins to turn  
SKorean ex-leader's aide arrested over corruption  
Asian carriers shaken by plunge in premium travel  
US admiral hails China anti-piracy cooperation  
Hobbled US giants face China carmakers in Shanghai  
Shanghai auto expo: showdown for global automakers  
S.Korea March start-up/failure ratio at 8-mth high  
Russia's ruling duo fete Orthodox Easter  
Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash  
Violence down, curtain up for Kashmir theatre  
Circus cats play guitar, tap bells, ride skateboard  
Israeli settlers claim Golan Heights 'forever'  
'Housewives' cast gathers to bid Sheridan adieu  
Battling the anti-celluloid tide in Syria  
Eleven confirmed dead in Indonesia plane crash  
French 'wine terrorists' take aim at foreign imports  
Decades after the MGs, Booker T takes center stage  
Buraka Som Sistema gets Coachella crowd jumping  
NATO forces foil attack on Norwegian tanker
| International
|  
Iraq parliament gets speaker after months of discord  
Australia, Netherlands join U.N. race meeting boycott
| International
|  
Pakistan must do more to fight Taliban: U.S. commander
| International
|  
Taliban militants kill five policemen: official  
Afghanistan eyes doubling police force
| International
|  
Germany's Infineon needs state guarantees  
UAE arrests suspect in Lebanon's Hariri murder: report
| International
|  
Boeing, Dassault and Saab court Brazil plane deal  
Two Koreas to meet on industrial park amid tension
| International
|  
Iraq parliament gets speaker after months of discord
| International
|  
Military leader and other ETA suspects arrested
| International
|  
Jobs, crime keep South African expats away from home
| International
|  
End of Cuba embargo 'way down the road'  
Eyeing diners, restaurants take to Twitter  
Eyeing diners, restaurants take to Twitter
| Technology
|  
Joint operation thwarted new ETA attack: Spain  
Norwegian tanker hijack bid foiled in Gulf of Aden  
Boredom, hunger and fear for pirates' hostages  
Sri Lanka: 17 rebels dead in clashes to clear road  
China to build new panda breeding center  
Pakistan: Suspected US missiles kill 3, wound 5  
N.Korea renews threat to 'bolster nuclear deterrent'  
Indonesia, Australia to cooperate on migrants  
2 Koreas to hold first dialogue in a year  
South Korean president calls for end of corruption  
SKorea accepts North's rare talks offer  
Philippines worried about ailing Italian hostage  
Jackie Chan's China comments prompt backlash  
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro  
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found  
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever  
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production  
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time  
AMD to Start Production of piledriver  
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs  
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia  
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air  
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch  
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent  
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up  
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform  
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis  
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets  
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights