DATE=7/15/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-235501
TITLE=SPAIN / ETA NEWSPAPER (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=GIL CARBAJAL
DATELINE=MADRID
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: SPANISH POLICE WEDNESDAY RAIDED AND SHUT DOWN THE OFFICES
OF A NEWSPAPER WHICH IS SYMPATHETIC TO THE VIOLENT BASQUE
SEPARATIST GROUP "ETA." GIL CARBAJAL REPORTS FROM MADRID, THE
ACTION WAS TAKEN BY COURT ORDER AFTER EVIDENCE SHOWED CLOSE LINKS
BETWEEN BETWEEN THE NEWSPAPER AND ETA.
TEXT: IN PRE-DAWN RAIDS, SOME 350 SPANISH POLICE ARRESTED 11
PERSONS AND SEALED-OFF THE OFFICES OF THE PRO-BASQUE INDEPENDENCE
NEWSPAPER CALLED "EGIN," ALONG WITH ITS SISTER RADIO STATION
"EGIN IRRATIA," AND THEIR PARENT COMPANY, "URAIN." EGIN, WHICH
HAS A CIRCULATION OF 50-THOUSAND COPIES, REGULARLY REPORTS ETA
COMMUNIQUES AND ITS CLAIMS OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR TERRORIST
MURDERS AND KIDNAPPINGS.
//OPT// THE OPERATION WAS CARRIED OUT IN THE TOWNS OF HERNANI,
BILBAO AND VITORIA IN THE BASQUE REGION AND PAMPLONA IN NAVARRE.
//END OPT//
AMONG THOSE ARRESTED ARE A MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF
"HERRI-BATASUNA" -- ETA'S POLITICAL WING -- AND THE SPOKESMAN FOR
THE UMBRELLA GROUP OF PRO-INDEPENDENCE ORGANIZATIONS KNOWN AS
"KAS." ALTHOUGH THE IDEOLOGICAL LINKS BETWEEN ETA,
HERRI-BATASUNA AND EGIN ARE WELL ESTABLISHED, AUTHORITIES UNTIL
NOW HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO COME UP WITH HARD EVIDENCE OF
STRUCTURAL AND ECONOMIC TIES.
IN A NEWS CONFERENCE EXPLAINING THE OPERATION, SPANISH INTERIOR
MINISTER, JAIME MAYOR OREJA, SAID THAT THE RAID WAS CARRIED OUT
ON THE BASIS OF PROOF OF STRUCTURAL CONNECTIONS, STABLE AND
PERMANENT CONTACTS, AND A RELATIONSHIP OF SUBORDINATION OF THE
NEWSPAPERS AND ITS PARENT COMPANY TO ETA. THE MINISTER ADDED
THAT WHILE OTHER POLICE OPERATIONS HAD DISMANTLED TERRORIST
COMMANDOS, WHICH HE LIKENED TO LIMBS (ARMS AND LEGS), THIS TIME
HE SAID THEY HAD STRUCK AT ETA'S VERY HEART.
ALTHOUGH EGIN'S OFFICES HAVE BEEN RAIDED BEFORE, THIS IS THE
FIRST TIME IN ITS 22-YEAR HISTORY THAT ITS OFFICES HAVE BEEN SHUT
DOWN.
THE PROVISIONAL CLOSURE WAS ORDERED BY SPANISH HIGH COURT JUDGE
BALTASAR GARZON, WHO HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING ETA'S FINANCIAL
NETWORK.
//REST OPT//
WEDNESDAY'S OPERATION FOLLOWS EARLIER RAIDS AND ARRESTS IN LATE
MAY CARRIED OUT UNDER HIS SUPERVISION. AT THAT TIME, 11 PERSONS
WERE ARRESTED IN AND AROUND BILBAO. DOCUMENTS CONFISCATED
REVEALED THAT THEY LAUNDERED MONEY AND FINANCED ETA MEMBERS
HIDING OUT IN LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES. (SIGNED)
NEB/GC/PCF/JO
15-Jul-98 12:52 PM EDT (1652 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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