12 ETA members were arrested in France and Spain today, including the capture of Julen Madariaga, one of the separatist group’s founding fathers. Those arrested were said to be in charge of the terrorist group’s extortion rackets, that are suspected to be continuing despite the recent historical ceasefire.
Full reports in The Guardian and El Mundo.
Marbella
21 Jun 06 at 10:36 pm
A quote from the El Pais (Herald in English):
THE ARREST in France and Spain of 12 alleged members
of the blackmail network run by the Basque separatist terrorist
organization ETA shows the ambiguities of the current
situation: there is a ceasefire that has been called permanent,
but the terrorist group itself, as it explained in a published
interview with two masked men five weeks ago, considers
this ceasefire compatible with the group’s right to go on
financing itself by means of its usual extortion racket, because
"the liberation struggle continues.â€
César
22 Jun 06 at 1:43 pm
Talking about terrorism, you have missed to talk about the judgement of the killers of Miguel íngel Blanco, a PP politician who was kidnapped and cowardly executed when the Aznar government didn’t accept that the imprisoned ETA terrorists will be approached to Prisons in the Basque Autonomie Region.
Here’s a report about him:
http://www.lamanana.com.es/audios/mablanco.mp3
Marbella
22 Jun 06 at 2:41 pm
No we didn’t miss it. Take the time to educate yourself, look in the forum and you’ll see it there. We are not as stupid as you think.
César
22 Jun 06 at 3:36 pm
Well, I don’t see any comment in the main front of NFS, Iñm afraid.
As I said before the forum is too wide for me. Have I ever used the word “stupid” referred to you?. No, never ever. Maybe you are quite just a little bit “quemado” due, I suppose, to the Marbella sun.
Ben
22 Jun 06 at 3:41 pm
The thing is that NFS didn’t start out as a news site, I just add bits of news that jump out at me every now and again and realise that on the front page big stories do get missed out, such as the stamp fraud and the Miguel Angel trial. From now on I think I will try to include all these (both did appear in the forums, it is true). Maybe one big story every day or two is the answer, linked to quality news sources rather than writing the news myself (and getting into trouble over inaccuracies!)
César
22 Jun 06 at 4:00 pm
Ben -
Too bad that some people in here cannot cope with strong opinionated counterparts. That’s the salt and “salsa” of live, I think.
Marbella
22 Jun 06 at 4:12 pm
Ben, you are right, it is not a news site and there is no expectation for it to be so. The subjects tackled in the podcasts, raised in the forums and in the blog are diverse. Anyone taking a step back would be amazed at the range of issues covered in just a year. If you take a look at some of the blogs and forums associated with Spanish newspaper sites they are full of extremists. There is a some very nasty and bigoted stuff there I promise you. NFS doesn’t need that. If you highlight story A then someone will shout that you ignored story B. Impossible. I like the way you let it flow, and at the core of NFS’s success is you and Marina setting the tone if not always the agenda. Long may that continue.
Ben
22 Jun 06 at 4:19 pm
Thanks. I like the mix myself as well. Bit of news, bit of photography, the podcasts… it shall continue!
César
22 Jun 06 at 4:28 pm
But on the other hand, if everyone says the same and there is no interchange of thoughts, there’s no point of visiting a site like this. Strong difference doesn’t mean Extremism.