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Bombs hit four Spanish courts
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Bombs exploded early Tuesday at four courthouses in northern Spain, causing some property damage but no immediate reports of injuries, Spanish media reported. The first bomb went off about 2:30 a.m. local time, with the fourth detonating around 8:45 a.m.
The bombs went off in four northern provinces that the Basque separatist group ETA is trying to turn into an independent homeland.
The attacks follow a statement published by ETA in the Basque newspaper Gara, in which the group reiterated its claim to self determination and took responsibility for several recent bombings.
"We're back!"
Gara reported on its Web site later on Tuesday that it received a warning call in the name of ETA at 8:25 a.m. local time, before the fourth and final bomb, at a courthouse in Guernika, in Vizcaya province. That bomb exploded around 8:45 a.m. The explosions occurred at the courthouses in the towns of Ordizia, in Guipuzcoa province, around 2:30 a.m., then in Amurrio, Alava province, and then in Guernika. It was not immediately clear what time the explosion occurred in the fourth location, in Berriozar, in Navarra province, but Gara reported that it was an incendiary device, not a bomb.

The first three provinces comprise the Basque region in Spain, with its own regional government, while neighboring Navarra province has its own separate regional government. ETA's aim is to create an independent Basque homeland that would comprise those four provinces in Spain along with three departments in southwestern France that also have historic Basque roots and customs.

Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso, in a statement, "condemned the terrorist actions carried out early today against four courthouses" and called for national unity to fight terrorism. The minister did not specifically name ETA in his statement, but numerous other Spanish politicians and other leaders did blame ETA for the attacks, in their separate statements of condemnation. The bombings came as speculation continues in Spain that ETA might be preparing to call another cease-fire in its long fight, that started in 1968.

ETA suspects are also due to go on trial this week at Spain's National Court, in Madrid. ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths and is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
Posted by: Steve 2005-10-25
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=133118