U.S., EU freeze ETA group assets

ETA's campaign for a Basque state has claimed 800 lives since 1968

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Treasury Department says the United States and the European Union are blocking the assets of a group suspected of being a front group for the Basque separatist organization ETA, which is believed to have been involved in terror attacks since 1968.

The announcement came hours before President Bush was due to meet Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar at Camp David.

"Today's designation is particularly timely, as ETA is the prime suspect in two powerful car bombings that exploded in Madrid Wednesday," the department said in a statement.

The Treasury Department said the action targets an organization called Askatasuna, believed to be a front for ETA, and seven individuals believed to be associated with ETA, including one woman.

She would be only the second woman to be targeted under the Bush administration's terror financing executive order of last year, a Treasury official said.

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The department said Askatasuna "acts as a conduit for communications between imprisoned ETA members and the ETA leadership and provides funds to imprisoned ETA activists."

The seven individuals named are all wanted in Spain on terrorism charges, the official said.

The U.S. State Department has designated ETA as a foreign terrorist organization, which means its assets are already frozen in the U.S. and it is prohibited from doing any business with people or groups in the U.S.

Since ETA was formed in 1959, it has killed more than 800 people and carried out about 1600 terrorist attacks, the official said.

"The simultaneous blocking of the assets of these individuals and entity by the U.S. and the European Union demonstrates the broad international commitment to choke off the sources of financing for terrorist attacks," the official said.

The designation means that the U.S. will block all the U.S. assets of the ETA front group and the seven individuals named, and will prohibit any financial dealings between people in the United States and the group and the seven individuals targeted.

The move comes just as Bush has a scheduled meeting with Aznar at the presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains, following a U.S.-European Union summit at the White House Thursday. Aznar is the current head of the European Union's rotating presidency.

Asked during a news conference Thursday what he was doing to help Spain combat ETA, Bush replied, "We stand ready to help the president. If the president asks for help, the United States of America is more than willing to provide that help."

Bush did not mention the possibility of freezing ETA's assets, but added, "We share intelligence, we talk about arrests that we've made. I mean, we are close friends and allies. And Jose Maria knows this very well: I'm a phone call away. And terror is terror, and we must fight it wherever it exists."

So far, the Treasury Department said that $116 million in assets has been frozen worldwide, as part of the administration's crackdown of terrorism, with $34 million blocked in the United States and the remaining $82 million blocked by the international community.

The action has targeted the assets of 210 groups and individuals, with 161 countries and jurisdictions involved, the senior Bush official said.

The seven individuals targeted in Friday's action are:

-- Ivan Apaolaza Sancho, believed to have joined the "K. Madrid" cell of ETA in 1999 and to have taken part in several car bombings in Madrid.

-- Ismael Berasategui Escudero, believed to be a member of the "K. Behorburu" cell of ETA, and to have participated in numerous terrorist acts, including placing a car bomb in Malaga's Airport, placing a car bomb outside Cala Font Hotel in Salou, Tarragona, and placing a car bomb in a terminal of Barajas's Airport in Madrid.

-- Lexuri Gallastegui Sodupe, believed to have joined the "K. Madrid" cell of ETA in 2000. She is believed to have taken an active role in collecting information on politicians, judges and other officials for future terror attacks.

-- Gorka Palacios Alday, believed to have joined the "K. Madrid" cell of ETA in 1999 and to have participated in various terrorist acts including placing several car bombs in Madrid.

-- Asier Quintana Zorrozua, believed to have joined the "K. Madrid" cell of ETA in 2000 and to have participated in various terrorist acts including several car bombings in Madrid.

-- Juan Luis Rubenach Roig, believed to have participated with the "K. Madrid" cell of ETA since 1999 and to have taken part in various terrorist acts, including placing several car bombs in Madrid.

-- Manex Zubiaga Bravo, believed to have joined the "K.Madrid" cell of ETA in 2001 and to have participated in placing a car bomb in Madrid.