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Funeral held for Spain bomb dead

A funeral has been held for the two policemen killed by a car bomb on the Spanish island of Majorca on Thursday.

The service, in the Majorcan capital Palma, was attended by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and members of the royal family.

The attack was the second in 48 hours. Both have been blamed on the Basque separatist group, Eta.

Also on Friday, police made a public appeal for help in tracing six people they believed to be Eta members.

A minute’s silence was also held across Spain in memory of the dead.

Map of where the bomb struck

The two Civil Guards – Carlos Saenz de Tejada Garcia and Diego Salva Lesaun – were given full military honours at the joint ceremony in Palma.

Mr Zapatero placed the medals of honour on their coffins as they lay in the chapel of the cathedral.

Ramon Socias, the Spanish government’s delegate to the Balearic Islands, told reporters the men had "placed all their hopes in being members of the Civil Guards, in serving the public".

Images of six Eta suspects wanted by Spanish police

He said they had been "killed for no reason, because of the barbarity of a few thugs who don’t represent anybody, who I believe don’t even represent themselves".

Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said she repeated the government’s "absolute condemnation" of the attacks.

"I reiterate that together we are going to win the fight against the terrorists. We will finish them. And we are going to do it together and within the limits of our rights," she said.

The Spanish interior ministry has also released the names and photographs of six people they described as "suspected terrorists".

The BBC’s Steve Kingstone, in Madrid, said it was not clear whether the four men and two women were directly linked to the bombings, but that police are under pressure to make arrests.

Deadliest attack

The men were killed when a bomb exploded underneath the patrol car they were sitting outside the El Foc barracks in Palmanova, security officials said.

Eta’s anniversary calling card

Majorca bomb: Your stories

Investigators walk past the scene of the bombing in Palmanova (30 July 2009)

Several people were also injured by the powerful explosion on the busy road, which sent the vehicle flying through the air and set it on fire.

The attacks took place on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Eta’s founding and, while there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack yet, Mr Zapatero said it bore all the hallmarks of the Basque separatist group.

The Majorca attack came a day after another car bomb destroyed much of a police barracks in the northern city of Burgos and left more than 50 people slightly wounded.

Thursday’s attack was the deadliest since two Spanish undercover policemen were shot during an operation in south-western France in December 2007.

Eta has been held responsible for more than 820 deaths during its campaign for an independent homeland in Spain’s Basque region.

For many months Spaniards have been told by their government that Eta is historically weak, following the arrest of a string of alleged commanders of its military wing, says our correspondent.

But the past 48 hours have provided chilling evidence to the contrary, he adds, and Eta appears to be making a statement – that it has the capability to strike anywhere.

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Are you travelling to or from Majorca Have you been affected by travel disruptions or heightened security checks since Thursday’s car bomb Are you living on the island What is the mood like there since the blast Send us your comments and experiences using the form below.

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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Bloody reminder

By Steve Kingstone
BBC News, Madrid

Funeral of the two Civil Guards in Majorca, 31 Jul 09

The charred wreckage of a patrol car in Majorca, and the shattered facade of a police barracks on the mainland represent a grim birthday message from Eta, as the Basque militant group marks the 50th anniversary of its founding.

Wednesday’s car bombing in Burgos, which caused extensive damage but only minor injuries, was characterised as a "failed attack" by Spain’s Interior Minister, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba. But those words rang uncomfortably hollow just 24 hours later, when a second bomb in the Majorcan resort of Palmanova claimed the lives of two Civil Guard officers.

Half a century after a small cell of Basque student radicals adopted the name Euskadi ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom), Eta has sent a clear message that reports of its demise have been greatly exaggerated.

During the group’s fledgling years, its young founders ran a covert campaign to preserve the Basque language, which had been outlawed by General Franco. But the goal soon became altogether more ambitious: an independent state, to take in historic Basque lands spanning parts of south-western France as well as Spain.

Eta resorted to arms in 1968, killing a police commander in the Basque city of San Sebastian. It has since claimed 827 further lives, according to the Interior Ministry. Today, 501 men and 84 women are in Spanish jails – accused or convicted of terrorism-related crimes.

Top suspects arrested

Without doubt, the organisation is weaker than it was. At the height of its violence in 1980, Eta claimed 92 lives, compared with four fatalities in 2008, and three so far this year.

Emergency services near scene of car bombing in Majorca

The Spanish authorities have sought to take credit for that weakness, stressing the decisive impact of high-profile arrests, often in partnership with French police. Since May 2008, officers have detained four suspects described as Eta’s political or military "commanders".

"Eta has been acknowledging internally that they are in a very critical situation," explains Rogelio Alonso, a terrorism expert at the King Juan Carlos University in Madrid. But he adds a caveat: "although they are weakened, it only takes a few people to plant a bomb. So they remain highly dangerous."

Politically, Eta is isolated. For while 24% of Basques support its goal of independence, according to the latest Euskobarometro poll of public opinion, only 1% offer "total support" for its methods.

The prospect of renewed dialogue with the government in Madrid is remote, following the failure of earlier talks during an Eta ceasefire, starting in March 2006. The peace was broken by a bomb at Madrid’s Barajas airport in December that year, and Eta officially ended its ceasefire six months later, after contact with the politicians petered out.

Political exclusion

Today, Eta has no legally-recognised political representatives. Its favoured candidates were barred from standing in recent regional elections by judges in Madrid; meaning that, for the first time, radical separatism is unrepresented in the Basque parliament. Without little or no influence in the political arena, the group is again making its point with the gun.

Aftermath of the explosion in Burgos

Some former militants have turned their back on violence. They include Julen Madariaga, a founder member of Eta, who is now in his late seventies.

"Eta has not had the lucidity or courage to realise that times have changed," he told the El Pais newspaper recently. "I realised that violence achieves nothing, but others lacked the balls to admit it."

Madariaga encourages others to follow him into Aralar, a youthful political party which advocates Basque separatism but rejects violence. It surprised many by winning four seats in the regional election, doubling its vote of 2005. But the biggest winner was the Socialist Party, which now leads a coalition government in the region – having ended three decades of rule by Basque nationalists.

Eta has described the Socialist administration as a "priority target". There is no reliable figure for the number of militants who might be able to deliver on that threat, but many of the group’s current followers are young, and often related to the older generation of serving prisoners.

Recently, one unnamed militant mocked the government’s claim that the group was terminally weakened. "All Spanish interior ministers dream of doing away with Eta," he said, as quoted by the separatist newspaper Gara. "But to do that, the education minister would first have to redraw the map of the Basque Country and rewrite the textbooks."

In the wake of the Mallorca killings, a stern-faced Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero again spoke of defeating ETA "definitively".

But after the bloodiest week in months, Spaniards may wonder whether he was speaking more out of hope than expectation.</p


This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Spain on high alert after bombs

Police sniffer dog near the bomb site in Palmanova (30 July 2009)

Police in Spain are on heightened alert after two bomb attacks in 48 hours blamed on the Basque separatists, Eta.

On Thursday, two Civil Guard officers were killed when a car bomb exploded outside a base in the resort town of Palmanova on the island of Majorca.

Another car bomb blast on Wednesday destroyed much of a police barracks in the northern city of Burgos and left more than 50 people slightly wounded.

The attacks coincide with the 50th anniversary of Eta’s founding.

They also come at a time when police resources are stretched because of the start of the holiday season.

Map of where the bomb struck

Following Thursday’s bombing, the authorities temporarily closed ports and airports on Majorca as part of a security operation to prevent those responsible from escaping, causing travel chaos for tourists.

Eta has been held responsible for more than 820 deaths during its campaign for an independent homeland in Spain’s Basque region.

‘Vile murderers’

The two Civil Guards who were killed in Palmanova – Carlos Saenz de Tejada Garcia and Diego Salva Lesaun – had been inside a patrol car parked outside the El Foc barracks when a bomb planted underneath exploded it, security officials said.

Several people were injured by the powerful explosion on the busy road, which sent the vehicle flying through the air and set it on fire.

Police later defused a second explosive device placed under another civil guard vehicle at a different base on Majorca, officials said.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack yet, but Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said it bore all the hallmarks of Eta.

"I want to condemn this new low blow with much rage and pain, but also with much determination," he said in a televised address.

"The criminal attack comes at a time when the civil guards and national police, with the co-operation of French security forces, are striking against the terrorist group as never before," he added.

Mr Zapatero said Eta members were being "arrested earlier and in greater numbers, and this is the way it will continue to be".

ANALYSIS
Marian Hens
BBC News, Madrid
Eta is trying to present this as a sign of the group’s renewed strength.

After repeated arrests of its leadership and the success of the anti-terrorist campaign launched by the Spanish and the French authorities, the armed Basque separatists had been gradually losing ground.

In recent years, the organisation has also seen its political base eroded and support in the Basque county drop to the lowest level in the group’s history.

Read full article

Aftermath of the explosion in Burgos

"The government has given orders to the security forces to be on maximum alert, to double their work, to increase even more their efforts and to protect themselves from these vile murderers," he added.

"They have absolutely no chance of hiding. They cannot escape. They cannot avoid justice. They will be arrested. They will be sentenced. They will spend the rest of their lives in prison."

Thursday’s attack was the deadliest since two Spanish undercover policemen were shot during an operation in south-western France in December 2007.

The BBC’s Steve Kingstone in Madrid says that for many months Spaniards have been told by their government that Eta is historically weak, following the arrest of a string of alleged commanders of its military wing, but the past 48 hours have provided chilling evidence to the contrary.

Exactly 50 years after it was founded by a small group of radical Basque students, Eta appears to be making a statement – that it has the capability to strike anywhere, our correspondent says.

With the country in its peak tourist season, and with thousands taking to the roads this weekend for their holidays, police resources will be stretched – amid genuine fears of more attacks, he adds.

Map

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Are you travelling to or from Majorca Have you been affected by travel disruptions or heightened security checks since Thursday’s car bomb Are you living on the island What is the mood like there since the blast Send us your comments and experiences using the form below.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Spanish barracks hit by car bomb

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A car bomb has exploded in the northern Spanish city of Burgos.

The blast occurred outside a barracks of the paramilitary Civil Guard. Dozens of people suffered minor injuries, officials say.

Police quoted by Spanish media blamed the attack on the Basque separatist group Eta.

Eta has fought for an independent state in northern Spain and south-western France since 1968, in a campaign that has cost more than 800 lives.

The group formally ended a ceasefire two years ago.

Last month it was blamed for a car bomb attack in the northern city of Bilbao in which a senior police officer was killed. </p


This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

US firm averts French explosion

Gas bottles have been placed around the New Fabris site

A US construction equipment firm has agreed to pay extra compensation to French workers who had threatened to explode gas canisters at their plant.

Staff at JLG Industries in Tonneins, south-western France, made the threat in order to get better redundancy terms for 53 workers.

It is the third such incident in which workers have threatened violence against employers.

Elsewhere, French workers have taken managers hostage in "boss-nappings".

The French Employment Minister, Laurent Wauquiez, described the tactics as "blackmail".

In the JLG deal, the 53 affected workers were each guaranteed 30,000 euros (£26,000; $42,000) in severance pay.

JLG Industries is a subsidiary of the US company Oshkosh, which makes cranes and work platforms.

Meanwhile, a tense stand-off continues at the bankrupt New Fabris car plant in Chatellerault, south-west of Paris, where workers have also made a threat to blow up the factory.

They have given a 31 July deadline for Renault and Peugeot, which provided 90% of the plant’s work, to pay them 30,000 euros each.

Renault and PSA Peugeot said it was not their responsibility to pay workers.

The BBC’s Emma Jane Kirby in Paris says there is an acute sense of injustice in France at the moment, with many workers complaining that while their bosses continue to reap company benefits and bonuses, they are paying for this economic crisis with their jobs. </p


This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.