Police arrested a suspected top computer programmer for the Basque
separatist group ETA in France Tuesday, the Spanish Interior Ministry
said. The arrest comes a day after the separatist group's latest cease-fire
announcement. Despite the group's declaration of a permanent general
and verifiable cease-fire, police will not stop pressuring ETA, the
Interior Ministry said. The programmer is accused of playing a key role in the group's
logistics by designing the computer codes that operatives used to
secretly communicate, the ministry said. Police have been on the trail of the programmer for months, the
ministry said. And authorities in Spain arrested the programmer's
girlfriend, also suspected of aiding ETA, according to the ministry. Police are also investigating whether the programmer allegedly helped
Colombian FARC rebels with computer issues, but they have not
confirmed a link with the leftist guerrilla group, the ministry said. In a statement released to the Basque newspaper Gara -- where it
typically releases information -- ETA said Monday that it declared a
permanent general and verifiable cease-fire as a "firm commitment
towards a process to achieve a lasting resolution and toward an end to
the armed confrontation." Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said that the
government wants to see a statement from ETA calling for a definitive
end, which he said Monday's statement did not do. "Am I more tranquil today than before? Yes," Perez said Monday. "Is
this the end? I would say no." Spain's Socialist government has repeatedly called for ETA to announce
unilaterally a definitive end to its decades of separatist violence,
blamed for more than 800 deaths, and a pledge to lay down its weapons. ETA wants Basque independence in northern Spain and southwest France. Various Basque leftist parties -- including the Batasuna party,
outlawed for its links to ETA -- as well as four Nobel peace laureates
and the Nelson Mandela Foundation also have called in recent months
for the organization to establish a permanent and verifiable
cease-fire. The Batasuna party's ban from running candidates in
municipal elections will not be lifted because of ETA's statement, the
interior minister said. The latest statement comes after weeks of speculation in Spain that
ETA would issue a statement during the holiday season.
separatist group ETA in France Tuesday, the Spanish Interior Ministry
said. The arrest comes a day after the separatist group's latest cease-fire
announcement. Despite the group's declaration of a permanent general
and verifiable cease-fire, police will not stop pressuring ETA, the
Interior Ministry said. The programmer is accused of playing a key role in the group's
logistics by designing the computer codes that operatives used to
secretly communicate, the ministry said. Police have been on the trail of the programmer for months, the
ministry said. And authorities in Spain arrested the programmer's
girlfriend, also suspected of aiding ETA, according to the ministry. Police are also investigating whether the programmer allegedly helped
Colombian FARC rebels with computer issues, but they have not
confirmed a link with the leftist guerrilla group, the ministry said. In a statement released to the Basque newspaper Gara -- where it
typically releases information -- ETA said Monday that it declared a
permanent general and verifiable cease-fire as a "firm commitment
towards a process to achieve a lasting resolution and toward an end to
the armed confrontation." Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said that the
government wants to see a statement from ETA calling for a definitive
end, which he said Monday's statement did not do. "Am I more tranquil today than before? Yes," Perez said Monday. "Is
this the end? I would say no." Spain's Socialist government has repeatedly called for ETA to announce
unilaterally a definitive end to its decades of separatist violence,
blamed for more than 800 deaths, and a pledge to lay down its weapons. ETA wants Basque independence in northern Spain and southwest France. Various Basque leftist parties -- including the Batasuna party,
outlawed for its links to ETA -- as well as four Nobel peace laureates
and the Nelson Mandela Foundation also have called in recent months
for the organization to establish a permanent and verifiable
cease-fire. The Batasuna party's ban from running candidates in
municipal elections will not be lifted because of ETA's statement, the
interior minister said. The latest statement comes after weeks of speculation in Spain that
ETA would issue a statement during the holiday season.
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