A Basque separatist group attacked a Spanish airport with home-made mortars Friday, forcing holidaymakers to flee and apparently signalling the start of a campaign against tourist targets.
At least two mortars were fired at the airport in Zaragoza, 240km east of Madrid, though there were no injuries and it was unclear last night exactly where they had exploded.
Police confirmed that two home-made mortar launchers had been found in undergrowth near the airport and a search was continuing last night to see if there were any more.
A Ryanair flight from London Stansted was diverted to a nearby military airport after the separatist group ETA issued a warning saying that there would be an attack on the city's civilian airport.
A Ryanair spokeswoman said: "The aircraft parked at a military [base] and all passengers disembarked. The passengers and aircraft remained [there] until the security alert at the airport had ended ... Passengers were then coached to the terminal building."
Passengers on the return flight "waited in a safe zone outside the airport," she said. The flight eventually left more than two hours late.
Television pictures showed the passengers walking down a road away from the airport and seeking shade under nearby trees.
A short while later witnesses said two mortar shells could be heard whistling through the air towards the airport.
The attack appeared to confirm police worries that ETA would carry out attacks on tourism targets this summer, despite rumors that it may be about to enter into peace talks with the Spanish government.
The Vanguardia newspaper reported last week that anti-terrorist police had increased their watch on the frontiers with France, fearing that ETA units hiding there were likely to start a campaign targeting tourist sites.
The telephoned warnings, which gave police less than an hour to evacuate the airport, indicated that ETA may, however, be taking measures to avoid killing anyone while the promise of talks hangs in the air.
ETA has killed more than 800 people during the three decades of violence since it took up arms.
But a much weakened ETA has not managed to kill anyone for more than two years amid a sustained police crackdown which has taken the number of its members in jail up to 700.
The Socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said earlier this week that 178 ETA suspects had been jailed since he took office 14 months ago. Zapatero repeated earlier this week that he was prepared to talk to ETA if the conditions were right.
"If the government finds proof that there is a chance ETA is willing to abandon arms and stop using violence forever, of course the government will talk to search for peace," he said.
However, a quarter of a million marchers took to the streets of Madrid last weekend to demand that there be no negotiating with terrorists.
Some observers said yesterday's attack was proof that ETA would never give up violence.
"What ETA is trying to say is that it does not want talks with anybody and will continue with its strategy of terror," said the socialist mayor of Zaragoza, Juan Alberto Belloch.
ETA has carried out attacks against tourism targets most summers for the past two decades.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of