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| Europe |
| 'Eta' blast at Zaragoza airport |
| 2005-06-10 |
| An explosion near the airport in Zaragoza, Spain, is thought to be the work of the Basque militants Eta. A warning telephone call was made to the Basque newspaper Gara - which is often contacted before Eta attacks. The airport authorities say the terminal was evacuated before the blast and there are no reports of injuries. The Spanish government has drawn some criticism for saying it is ready to hold peace talks with Eta if the group lays down its weapons. The Gara newspaper reports that a call to its offices, and roadside assistance firm DYA, warned that a mortar attack on the airport was planned for between 1200 and 1400 local time. The explosion occurred at 1201 (1101 BST). The last attack claimed by Eta was a car bomb that exploded in Madrid, injuring three people on 25 May. On Sunday, at least 250,000 people demonstrated in the Spanish capital against the government plans to negotiate with the militant separatists. Some of the demonstrators carried banners reading "Negotiations - not in my name". But Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told the Senate this week that "if there is any chance that Eta is willing to abandon arms and end violence forever, of course the government will hold talks in search of peace, which is what the great majority of Spaniards want". He added that peace would be "the best tribute we could give to the victims of terrorism". Mr Zapatero also reminded the Senate that 178 Eta suspects had been jailed since the Socialists took over from the conservative Popular Party government in March last year. More than 800 people have been killed during Eta's 40-year campaign for an independent Basque state. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 A mortar, hey? I wonder where they launched it from. The civil airport is near to the end of a narrow (well, it used to be narrow!) road that runs from the Logrono Highway, and dead-ends at the military base. I do not remember any turn-offs, anywhere along--- just the civilian terminal just before the road went through the gates into the Spanish side of the base. There was nothing out there but the sentry box and the old aero-club building, just fences and hedges all the way along, except for the turnoff at the airport parking lot. I am fairly sure the military base and the civil airport shared at least some of the same runways, as they were so close... well, at least as close as things on airports and airbases are. Now, from the other side of the base--- what used to be the American side--- the main enterance was from an access road that ran from the main highway between Zaragoza and Madrid. It turned off from the right, about 14 kilometers from town. There was an old inn/hotel on the left, and the access road dropping down from a ridgeline on the right. It was just a matter of a mile or two, and from the top of that ridge, right where the turn-off is, you have a lovely view of the base. During Desert Storm, when we were all getting paranoid about what a terrorist could do, I thought about how easy it would be to pull off the road at that particilar place, pop off a couple of dropping shots at the base, and be back on the road and twenty miles away before the smoke even cleared. Were I a betting person, that's what I'd bet the ETA did. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2005-06-10 17:05 |
| #2 Grabbing your ankles yet, Zappy? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-06-10 14:56 |
| #1 They were something like 800,000 people according to the police, 1 million according to organizers. The ones who tell it was 250,000 people are "El Pais" ie the flagship of the socialist controlled press group who did the mediatic putsh who preceeded the elections. Looking at the images I would tend to think 250K people is _well_ below the real number. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-06-10 10:26 |