The San Sebastian bomb on Feb. 21 killed two commuting electrical workers, José Ángel Santos Larrañaga and Josu Leonet Azkona. The blast seriously injured the supposed target, Socialist Party town councilor, Iñaki Dubreuil. His bodyguard and two other people were also hurt.
There has been no claim of responsibility but Spanish media and government officials immediately blamed ETA.
The attack is the second linked to ETA this year, which brings to 26 the number of killings it has been accused of carrying out since it called off a 14-month ceasefire in December 1999.
In an unrelated joint operation by Spanish and French police hours later on the same day, ETA’s reputed military leader, Francisco Xavier García Gaztelu, was captured in a café in France.
García Gaztelu, one of Spain’s most wanted men, has been identified by government officials as a member of ETA’s collective leadership and head of the group’s military command. He is suspected of having ordered or participated in a string of killings, including the 1997 assassination of Basque town councilor Miguel Ángel Blanco, which sparked massive nationwide protests.
The following day on Feb. 22, a Spanish Civil Guard sting netted 15 other alleged ETA associates in the Basque towns of Ordizia and Goierri.
Among those detained on Feb. 22 was Íñigo Gurregui Lasa, an alleged member of ETA’s Donosti cell, one of the group’s deadliest units.
Earlier in the week, the Basque National Party, which holds the majority in the Basque regional government, announced it would hold early elections in the northern region next May.
Spanish Interior Minister Jaime Mayor Oreja of the country’s ruling Popular Party has said he will run against the current Basque president, or lehendakari in the Basque language, Juan José Ibarretxe.
Mayor Oreja, himself an anti-nationalist Basque, has the highest approval rating of any politician in Spain, according to a recent survey.
Frank Griffiths may be reached at fgriffiths@suite101.com
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