Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

BASQUE FATHERLAND AND LIBERTY • 69to the Basque Nationalist Party. The fortunes of Batasuna declineddue to several judicial investigations into its connection with ETAterrorism and its refusal to disavow armed struggle. On 30 June 2002the Batasuna Party was banned under the new Law of Political Partiesfor endorsing political violence. At this time the ETA announcedanother cease-fire but on 30 December 2006 it broke this cease-firewith a car bombing at Madrid’s main airportUnder the premiership of José María Aznar during 1996–2004, theSpanish government took a very hard-line policy toward the ETA, itspolitical party, and other front organizations. Following the Madridrailroad bombings of 11 March 2004, Aznar incorrectly blamedthese attacks on the ETA. When it became evident that these attackswere instead the work of Islamic militants, the Spanish public’s perceptionsof blame for the attacks shifted to Aznar for his widely unpopularpolicy of support for the U.S.-led intervention in Iraq, whichresulted in his being defeated in the elections of 14 March 2004.The new premiership of Socialist Party leader José Luis RodríguezZapatero initially sought to adopt a more conciliatory line toward theETA, but the 30 December 2006 ETA bombing of the Madrid airport,which killed two Ecuadorians, led Zapatero to end further negotiationswith the ETA.A car bombing in Bilbao on 10 October 2007 injured the bodyguardof a Socialist Party politician, drawing forth more public rebukeof the ETA by Prime Minister Zapatero. On 1 December 2007ETA members shot and killed two Spanish Guardia Civil officerswho were members of a joint French-Spanish antiterrorism squadthat confronted the ETA members in a public area in Capbreton,France, near Bayonne. These were the first fatalities since the 30December 2006 car bombing at the Madrid airport that ended the previouscease-fire. On 7 March 2008 ETA gunmen murdered a formercity council member in the town of Arrasate in the Basque region.On 21 March 2008 a car bombing in Calahorra in the northern regionof Rioja resulted in no casualties due to prior warning by the ETA,allowing evacuation of the area.On 20 May 2008 a French-Spanish joint task force in Bordeauxarrested ETA head Javier López Peña, suspected of having orderedthe 30 December 2006 car bombing, along with three other ETAmembers, Ainhoa Ozaetz Mendiondo, Jon Salaberria, and Igor Suberbiola,all involved in the outlawed financial and political support