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News, February 2005New ETA blow and counter blow - Madrid's Trade Fair hit9th February. Over night 14 presumed members of ETA were arrested. In a counter blow, ETA set off a car bomb in Madrid's trade fair, slightly wounding 42 people, just hours before king Juan Carlos was to open the annunal ARCO modern art exhibition. Evangelical leader Jose Pablo Sanchez had passed the street corner just minutes before the explosion. Mr. Sanchez is the director of Decision (Spain) and the weekly Buenas Noticias TV programme. This bombing follows one in January and several in December, while there have also recently been arrests, extraditions and the opening of important trials. The arrests were of people suspected of being involved in ETA's recruitment team. The arrestes followed up information found in the fall of 'Susper', arrested in December in France. He was assumed to be in charge of the terrorist 'commandos'. Recently, judge Baltasar Garzón began the investigation of 35 members of political party Batasuna, also on suspicion of more active membership of the terrorist organisation. Also today (9th Feb), Juan María Insausti Múgica, alias "Karpov" was extradited from France, on charges of being in the ETA leadership. On February 7th, an ETA trial began. 32 are accused of membership of and involvement in its youth section Jarai. On 18th January, just hours after Arnaldo Otegi of Basque political party Batasuna had warned ETA might attack again, a car bomb went off in Getxo, Bilbao, wounding one policeman. Otegi, closely linked to ETA, was responding to calls for 35 members of his party and its predecessors EH and HB to be arrested for their links with the terrorist organisation. He claimed that the calls showed that the government is still determined to fight ETA to the death and is not willing to look for a political way out of the quagmire of Basque politics. The car bomb's existence was advised, as usual, to a Basque newspaper also close to ETA's aims. But it was not positioned in the street where the terrorists had advised, but rather just round the corner. Thus the policeman was caught unexpectedly when the bomb went off. The car has been stolen earlier the same day. Following the bombing, Otegi again spoke out, sugesting that further such incidents cannot be ruled out. More recent news of ETA: Go ETA |