LOC16:10
13:10 GMT
LOCAL BASQUE POLICE FIND NEW ETA CARBOMB
MADRID, JULY 26 (KUNA) -- THE ARMED BASQUE SEPARATIST GROUP OF ETA CARRIED
OUT AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON WEDNESDAY BY PLACING A BOMB UNDER THE CAR OF
AN ELECTED OFFICIAL OF THE POPULAR PARTY (PP), WHICH WAS SAFELY SET OFF IN
DURANGO BY LOCAL POLICE.
EXPLOSIVES EXPERTS OF THE LOCAL BASQUE POLICE DETONATED THE BOMB, WHICH WAS
PLACED UNDER THE CAR OF AGUSTIN RAMOS VALLEJO, A CITY COUNCILLOR IN DURANGO.
THE EXPLOSION, WHICH CAUSED SOME DAMAGE, TOOK PLACE IN A MAIN STREET IN
DURANGO, NEAR BY THE BILBAO, ONE THE LARGEST CITY OF THE BASQUE REGION.
DURING THE PAST FEW WEEKS, ETA MURDERED TWO PP POLITICIANS. ON JUNE 4,
GUNMEN ASSASSINATED JESUS MARIA PEDROSA URKIZA IN DURANGO, AND ON JULY 15,
JOSE MARIA MARTIN CARPENA WAS MURDERED IN FRONT OF HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER IN
THE SOUTHERN CITY OF MALAGA.
THE ELECTED OFFICIALS OF THE PP, A CENTER-RIGHT PARTY IN SPAIN, ARE A
TRADITIONAL TARGET OF THE SEPARATIST GROUP.
ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL FIGURES, ETA, WHICH STANDS FOR EUSKADI TA ASKATASUNA
-- BASQUE HOMELAND AND LIBERTY -- WAS SET UP IN 1968 TO FIGHT FOR THE
INDEPENDENCE OF THE BASQUE REGION, AND HAS KILLED NEARLY 800 CIVILIANS AND
MILITARY PERSONNEL IN ITS 32-YEAR HISTORY. (END)
SA.AG
KUNA 261610 Jul 00NNNN