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Europe

Basque Separatist ETA Group Officially Dissolves

2018-05-03

[AAWSAT] The Basque separatist group ETA announced on Wednesday its official dissolution, marking an end to its deadly independence campaign. "ETA has decided to declare its historical cycle and functions terminated, putting an end to its journey," the group said in a letter published Wednesday by Spanish online newspaper El Diario. "ETA has completely dissolved all of its structures and declared an end to its political initiative."

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Europe

Ten ISIS fanatics who planned to film beheading, attack police, banks and Jooos in Barcelona jailed

2018-04-11

[DailyMail] Five Moroccans, four Spaniards and a Brazilian jailed in Spain Ran ISIS-linked jihadist cell planning terror attacks in Barcelona Had proposed to stage a kidnapping and execution of an 'infidel' Terror cell panned to attack 'police, banks or Jewish institutions' Ten members of an ISIS-linked cell who planned to launch terror attacks in Barcelona have been jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in Spain's National Court today. Five Moroccans, four Spaniards and a Brazilian, calling themselves the 'Islamic Fraternity, Group for preaching jihad' were handed between eight and 12 years in jail. The group, based in Terrassa, near Barcelona, had planned attacks against 'police, banks or Jewish institutions' and also expressed desires to join ISIS and film a jihadist execution video. The ten men were sentenced to jail in the National Court for 'belonging to a terrorist organization', documents said. The three leaders of the group were given 12 years in jail while the seven others got eight years. In March 2015, the main leader of the cell, a Spaniard who had converted to Islam, proposed to kidnap and decapitate an 'infidel' whom he had already identified, film the killing and then broadcast the video online before fleeing to Syria. He had previously proposed that the group 'commit an attack against the Catalan parliament, which no one had objected to,' according to the court ruling. 'He also justified decapitations and talked about making handmade bombs to commit attacks.' Police found documents calling for jihad at his home and books on European organizations such as the Basque separatist group ETA ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization that has been around since 1959. It demands independence from Spain and France for the Greater Basque Country. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by most civilized countries. More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, La Belle France, and other countries, though members do seem to find ready hospitality in Venezuela. or Germany's far-left Red Army Faction, the ruling said. Members of the cell had also gone on a recce in Barcelona, the Catalonian capital, where they took photos of the train station, a luxury seaside hotel, a shopping mall and a cop shoppe. One member went to Syria in April 2014 and died in Fallujah in Iraq the following year. Three others tried to follow in his footsteps at the end of 2014 but were detained at the border between Bulgaria and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... According to the interior ministry, close to a third of all arrests for 'jihadist terrorism' in Spain were made in Catalonia last year. The Times of Israel adds this apparently unimportant tidbit: The 10, whose cell was called "Islamic Fraternity, Group for Preaching Jihad," were sentenced for "belonging to a terrorist organization," the court says.

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Europe

Ex-member of Spanish death squad arrested for Islamic State links

2016-12-14

[AlAhram] Spanish police have placed in durance vile ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... a former member of an illegal Spanish paramilitary group who now is suspected of spreading Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group propaganda and planning a suicide kaboom, the interior ministry said on Tuesday. The man has expressed support online for Islamic State's attacks in European countries over the past year and was preparing to carry out a suicide attack on some form of public transport, it said in a statement. He served a prison sentence for the murder of a French railway worker in 1984 when he was a member of the Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups, or GAL, according to the statement. The GAL were illegal death squads set up by Spanish officials during the 1980s to fight a covert war against the Basque separatist group ETA ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization that has been around since 1959. It demands independence from Spain and France for the Greater Basque Country. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by most civilized countries. More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, La Belle France, and other countries, though members do seem to find ready hospitality in Venezuela. They killed 28 people from 1983 to 1987. After their existence came to light, the then interior minister was convicted of kidnapping and other bigwigs found guilty of murder. The arrested man, who had travelled to Afghanistan, Syria and Paleostine, was detained by the Spanish police's elite counter-terrorism unit in the town of Segovia, close to the capital Madrid, the ministry said. "His high level of radicalisation has led him to try to obtain the means to commit a terrorist attack, being willing to carry out an indiscriminate suicide attack against means of transport," it said, without specifying any target. The man was born in the Basque town of Irun near the French border. Spanish police arrested another man suspected of Islamic State links in Irun last month. Spanish police have arrested 173 suspected Islamist Lions of Islam since the security alert level was raised to one notch below the highest in 2015 following terrorist attacks in Gay Paree. Yes, but how many have been tried, convicted, and jailed? Except for a few celebrity cases -- yesterday's funders of the man in the hat, who was involved in the Belgian train station, for instance -- we aren't seeing many trials or sentences here at Rantburg.

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Caribbean-Latin America

Cuba will ask to be removed from terrorist list

2015-01-21

[THEWEEK] When Cuba and the United States meet for talks in Havana this week, Cuban officials will ask that before diplomatic relations are restored, their country is removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Commies are a separate problem from takfiris. You don't find many Cubans wearing turbans. A Cuban senior foreign ministry official told Reuters it was "unfair" that Cuba is on the State Department's list alongside Iran, Syria, and Sudan. "We cannot conceive of re-establishing diplomatic relations while Cuba continues to be included on the list," the official, who asked for anonymity, said. "It doesn't make any sense that we re-establish diplomatic relations and Cuba continues (on the list)." In the latest edition of the annual "Country Reports on Terrorism," the State Department cited Cuba's support for Colombia's FARC guerrillas and the Basque separatist group ETA. As Reuters notes, ETA called a ceasefire in 2011 and said it would disarm, while Cuba has hosted peace talks between FARC and the Colombian government. President Obama said last month that the U.S. would review the designation, and a State Department official told reporters the U.S. would work to remove Cuba from the list.

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Europe

Germany Arrests ETA Fugitive Bomb Expert

2014-11-02

Not all terrorists are jihadis. Only most of them. [AnNahar] German police incarcerated Book 'im, Mahmoud! one of the most wanted runaway members of the Basque separatist group ETA ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization that has been around since 1959. It demands independence from Spain and France for the Greater Basque Country. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by most civilized countries. More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, La Belle France, and other countries, though members do seem to find ready hospitality in Venezuela. , Tomas Elorriaga Kunze, who is wanted for forgery and bomb-making, the Spanish government said. Elorriaga Kunze, 51 -- known by the alias Teo -- had been on the run for 15 years after a string of convictions in La Belle France for belonging to an gang, the interior ministry said in a statement late on Friday. A Gay Paree court issued a European arrest warrant for him in 2009. "He is one of the members of the terrorist group ETA who has spent the most time in hiding," the ministry said in a statement. It said he was a trained industrial engineer specializing in electronics and telecommunications and had various roles in logistics and procurement of bomb-making equipment. "He contributed with his technical know-how to the making of bombs, bombs, activation by mobile telephone and new generation remote controls with which the terrorist organization caused dozens of deaths over recent decades." Elorriaga Kunze was arrested in a joint operation by German and Spanish police. German police said a Spanish ETA member was arrested on Friday in Mannheim in the west of Germany, but would not confirm his identity. They said the suspect would be extradited to La Belle France. ETA is blamed for the killing of 829 people in a four-decade campaign of bombings and shootings for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest La Belle France. It has been weakened by the arrests of big shots and in October 2011 declared a "definitive end" to its armed activity, but has not formally disarmed nor disbanded as the Spanish and French governments demand.

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Europe

Spain Sentences ETA Member to 29 Years for Killing

2014-06-17

[Ynet] A Madrid court incarcerated You have the right to remain silent... a member of armed Basque separatist group ETA ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization that has been around since 1959. It demands independence from Spain and France for the Greater Basque Country. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by most civilized countries. More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, La Belle France, and other countries, though members do seem to find ready hospitality in Venezuela. for 29 years on Monday for the killing of a Spanish soldier in 1995. Juan Ramon Carasatorre Aldaz, 52, was sentenced to 29 years for the killing of infantry brigadier Mariano de Juan Santamaria, who was shot in the head on April 10, 1995, in the northern city of San Sebastian, the court said in a ruling Monday. Two other ETA members, including the outlawed group's former military wing chief Javier Garcia Gaztelu, known as "Txapote", have already been sentenced for taking part in the same crime. Carasatorre Aldaz was tossed in the clink Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in southwestern La Belle France in December 2001 and transferred to Spain in November 2010 for trial over the killing of Juan Santamaria.

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Europe

Spanish Police Detain ETA Fugitive at Madrid Airport

2014-06-09

Being on guard for new terrorists nets an old one. [AnNahar] Spanish police on Sunday tossed in the slammer Please don't kill me! a member of the armed Basque separatist group ETA ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization that has been around since 1959. It demands independence from Spain and France for the Greater Basque Country. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by most civilized countries. More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, La Belle France, and other countries, though members do seem to find ready hospitality in Venezuela. suspected of belonging to a unit that killed several coppers in the 1980s, the interior ministry said. Police detained Maria Jesus Elorza Zubizarreta, 66, at Madrid's Adolfo-Suarez Barajas airport under a European arrest warrant issued by La Belle France in 2006, the ministry said in a statement. Zubizarreta, also known by her alias "Karakate", was a member of ETA's Donosti unit "which was responsible for the murder of several coppers in the 1980s" in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, it added. She fled to La Belle France in the 1980s, allegedly joining ETA's underground structures there. "In the mid-1990s she participated in making homemade explosives for terrorist organization under the orders of the head of its logistical apparatus, Julian Achurra Egurrola, alias 'Pototo'," the statement said. ETA, which announced an end to violence in 2011, is blamed for the shooting and bombing deaths of 829 people in a four-decade campaign for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwestern La Belle France. It is classed as a terrorist group by both the United States and the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... Earlier this year, the group said it would put its arsenal of weapons "out of operational use", in a historic first step towards disarmament.

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Europe

Spain Arrests Eight Linked to ETA Prisoners

2014-01-09

[An Nahar] Spanish police Wednesday enjugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! eight members of a group supporting prisoners from the armed Basque separatist group ETA ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization that has been around since 1959. It demands independence from Spain and France for the Greater Basque Country. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by most civilized countries. More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, La Belle France, and other countries, though members do seem to find ready hospitality in Venezuela. . The multiple raids in northern Spain were the latest in a series of blows against ETA, blamed for the deaths of 829 people in a four-decade campaign of shootings and bombings for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwestern La Belle France "The tentacle that allowed ETA to control prisoners has been broken up," Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz told news hounds. "It is one more step in the battle for the definitive dissolution of ETA," he said. An interior ministry official said eight people detained in all in police raids in the Basque Country and Navarre, northern Spain, but declined to give further details. Among those detained was Arantza Zulueta, a lawyer representing various ETA prisoners. The arrests came two weeks after ETA prisoners said they were prepared to drop their insistence on a general amnesty and instead seek their release through legal channels. The softening of the prisoners' demands appeared to be an attempt to engage the Spanish and French governments, both of which refuse to negotiate with ETA, designated a terrorist group by the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and the United States. Freed ETA convicts on Saturday called for all their incarcerated Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! comrades to be released, in a gathering that enraged victims' families. The gang has been weakened in recent years by the arrests of its big shots in Spain and La Belle France, whose security forces cooperate closely in fighting the band.

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Europe

Spain Court Frees 14 ETA Members under Rights Ruling

2013-11-27

[An Nahar] A Spanish court on Tuesday freed a further 14 nabbed Book 'im, Mahmoud! members of Basque armed separatist group ETA, a court source said, under a rights ruling that has outraged victims' families. Spanish media said those freed included Javier Martinez Izaguirre, who was convicted of an attack that killed a toddler in 1991. Many Spaniards are outraged by the release of ETA prisoners convicted of deadly shootings and bombings in a violent campaign for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwestern La Belle France. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled last month that Spain had acted illegally by retroactively cutting short the years of remission that an ETA prisoner had earned from good behavior. Dozens of other ETA members who had their remissions cut short under the same policy have since been released under the European court ruling. "Today 14 imprisoned ETA members have been freed on the order of the National Court, under the Strasbourg ruling," and the prisons had been ordered to free them immediately, said a court source who asked not to be named on Tuesday. In October 2011, ETA declared a "definitive end to armed activity" but it has not formally disarmed nor disbanded as the Spanish and French governments demand.

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Europe

Spain Court Frees 13 ETA Members under Rights Ruling

2013-11-15

[An Nahar] A Spanish court on Thursday freed a further 13 nabbed You have the right to remain silent... members of Basque armed separatist group ETA, a court source said, under a rights ruling that has outraged victims' families. Did the court consider the rights of the dead victims? Many Spaniards are outraged by the release of ETA prisoners convicted of deadly shootings and bombings in a violent campaign to carve out an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwestern La Belle France. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled last month that Spain had acted illegally by retroactively cutting short the years of remission that an ETA prisoner had earned from good behavior. Dozens of ETA members and other violent convicts had their remissions cut short under the same policy, and they are now demanding their release under the European court ruling.

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Europe

Spain detains 18 leaders of ETA prisoner support group

2013-10-01

[Al Ahram] Spanish police detained 18 leaders of an association that aids jailed members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA on Monday and froze its bank accounts, the interior ministry said. The "top managers" of Herrira were detained in simultaneous raids carried out in the Basque cities of Hernani, Bilbao and Vitoria as well as in Pamplona in the Navarre region, which has a significant Basque-speaking population, it said in a statement. Police also closed down 38 websites run by Herrira as well as dozens of Facebook and Twitter accounts, and froze the group's bank accounts. Spanish authorities argue that Herrira, founded in February 2012, has replaced two other groups that provided aid to ETA prisoners, Askatasuna and Gestoras pro Amnistia, which were banned in Spain due to their close links to the armed separatist group. The interior ministry said Herrira had taken over the task of "organising and supporting demonstrations that praised and exalted ETA prisoners and their ideals", a role once played by Askatasuna and Gestoras pro Amnistia.

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Europe

Spain's ETA Says Disarmament Call 'Constructive'

2013-07-16

[An Nahar] Armed Basque separatist group ETA ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization that has been around since 1959. It demands independence from Spain and France for the Greater Basque Country. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by most civilized countries. More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, La Belle France, and other countries, though members do seem to find ready hospitality in Venezuela. on Monday welcomed as "constructive" proposals by a group of international experts who had called for it to disarm and dismantle its military apparatus. ETA, blamed for more than 800 deaths in a four-decade campaign of bombings and shootings for the independence of the Basque homeland which straddles northern Spain and southwestern La Belle France, announced a "definitive end" to its armed activity in October 2011. But it has not formally disarmed or disbanded as demanded by Madrid and Gay Paree, both of which refuse to enter into negotiations with the group, listed by the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and United States as a terrorist entity. ETA has broken ceasefires in the past. "We believe that with the commitment of all, the proposal as a whole can constitute the departure point to decide on a road map," ETA said in a statement published by Basque daily Gara. Proposals by international experts in the so-called Social Forum -- an association of of civil associations and experts set up to spur on the Basque grinding of the peace processor -- issued on May 27, were a "constructive contribution", the group said. The ETA denounced Spain and La Belle France's refusals to enter into dialogue. In their report, the experts, including former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern, said: "As an essential part of the grinding of the peace processor, we recommend designing a controlled, orderly and consensual process that culminates in the dismantling of weapons and military structures" of ETA. They also urged that the process be independently overseen.

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