Spain hit by fresh attacks linked to ETA

Firefighters remove the facade of a building after a bomb, believed set by ETA separatists, exploded in a shopping center in Vitoria, northern Spain, on Wednesday

July 19, 2000
Web posted at: 11:34 a.m. EDT (1534 GMT)

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- An explosion rocked the Basque regional capital and a Socialist politician escaped a botched car bombing in southern Spain Wednesday in escalating violence blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA.

The two incidents were the fourth and fifth linked to ETA in the past week, marking the guerrillas' biggest show of force in years.

The bomb blast near the seat of the regional government in Vitoria tore through the roof of a shopping center and damaged a bank office but caused no injuries, officials said.

Hours later a bomb was found attached to the underside of a car in the port city of Malaga, where a local ruling Popular Party politician was shot dead Saturday night by a suspected Basque separatist gunman.

Police cordoned off the area and safely detonated the device. The target was Jose Asenjo, 51, provincial secretary for the opposition socialists, who was heading off on an errand with his wife and teen-age daughter.

Investigators said the only reason Asenjo and his family were still alive was because the bomb's firing mechanism failed. "I have to thank my lucky stars," a visibly shaken Asenjo told reporters.

Most of the latest ETA attacks have been outside the Basque Country, a strategy that analysts say is designed to show it has the power to strike anywhere, anytime.

The separatist offensive was believed to be aimed at forcing Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar to negotiate ETA's demands for a Basque state -- something he has rejected as non-negotiable.

Broken glass and debris litter the ground after an ETA bomb attack in Vitoria, northern Spain, early Wednesday

ETA has been linked to about 800 killings in its three-decade-long fight for an independent state in Basque areas of northern Spain and southern France.

The explosion in Vitoria came as officials of the Basque regional police force and Spain's Interior Ministry were working out plans to share intelligence in the fight against ETA.

An anonymous caller claiming to represent ETA alerted police just minutes before the blast, which occurred shortly after midnight. The explosion, heard several miles away, caused serious structural damage.

"This is savagery. Society must reject them," Enrique Villar, the central government's representative in the semi-autonomous Basque region, told state radio.

The failed bombing attempt in Malaga followed a protest march Monday in which an estimated 300,000 people expressed their outrage against ETA after the killing of Jose Maria Martin Carpena, a 50-year-old city councilor .

Martin Carpena was shot six times in front of his wife and daughter.

Asenjo had just turned the key in the ignition when he heard a bang like a firecracker. When he peered underneath the car, he spotted a package attached to its underside. Police rushed to the scene.

Like Martin Carpena, Asenjo is a local politician with no connection to the long-running Basque conflict. Malaga lies on the opposite side of the country from the Basque region.

"This is one more sign that anyone could be an ETA target," Fernando de la Torre, Malaga's mayor, told reporters.

Aznar, who won sweeping re-election in March after campaigning on a hard-line, anti-ETA platform, has vowed not to bow to separatist demands despite the latest wave of attacks.

But moderate Basque nationalists, who share ETA's goal of self-determination though they reject its violent methods, have accused Aznar of undermining chances for peace by relying exclusively on police action and refusing to seek dialogue.

ETA has been blamed for six killings since calling off a 14-month-long cease-fire last December, accusing the government of intransigence.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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