ETA whacks French cop in Paris

[jimmy olsen]

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/world/europe/18basque.html

Basque Group Killed Officer in Shootout, France Says
By SCOTT SAYARE
Published: March 17, 2010

PARIS — Members of the militant Basque separatist group ETA killed a French police officer in a shootout near Paris on Tuesday night, the French authorities said Wednesday.

Officials said it was the first time a member of France's security forces had been killed by the group, which operates primarily in Spain but has long used southwestern France as a staging area for its activities. Under increasing pressure from French and Spanish law enforcement agencies, ETA has in recent months moved some of its operations deeper into France.

In a statement on Wednesday, President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that the officer had been killed "during an exchange of gunfire with an ETA terrorist commando unit."

Spain's prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, called Mr. Sarkozy on Wednesday afternoon to offer his condolences and discuss joint efforts against ETA.

On Tuesday night, the Paris prosecutor's office said, the police stopped to question four people seen filling the gas tanks of four vehicles at the side of a road in Villiers-en-Bière, a village 30 miles southeast of Paris. Although the police officers did not realize it at the time, the four cars were among six that had been stolen earlier in the evening from a nearby dealership.

For reasons that remain unclear, the officers decided to arrest the four people and were placing them in handcuffs when the two other stolen vehicles arrived at the scene. Occupants of those vehicles began shooting at the police, who returned fire, according to the Paris prosecutor's office, killing the officer. All but one of the suspects escaped.

The police arrested the remaining suspect, a 27-year-old man who reportedly spoke Basque and presented himself as an ETA operative. They also recovered what appeared to be the weapon that killed the officer, a .357 Magnum with its serial number scratched out, Agence France-Presse reported.

The French and Spanish police have detained 34 people believed to be ETA operatives this year, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry, and several of the group's top military and political leaders have been arrested in the past year. Also, large stocks of weapons and explosives belonging to the group have been seized in France in recent months.

Many experts say they believe that ETA has been seriously weakened by the recent arrests and that it has been split by a conflict between its militant and political wings. In regional elections a year ago, a pro-Spanish government came to power in the Basque region of Spain for the first time in 30 years.

Classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, ETA seeks an independent state in the Basque regions of northern Spain and southwestern France. Since its inception in 1959, the militant group has been blamed for more than 825 deaths, primarily in bomb attacks against security officers.

A version of this article appeared in print on March 18, 2010, on page A12 of the New York edition.

[Lettow77]

 It seems the french brought this on themselves, but it will have unfortunate implications for the ETA. I wish them well.

[jimmy olsen]

It seems the french brought this on themselves, but it will have unfortunate implications for the ETA. I wish them well.

Bitch, please

[The Larch]

It seems the french brought this on themselves, but it will have unfortunate implications for the ETA. I wish them well.

Just to clarify, who are the "them" in your last sentence? The French or ETA?

[Lettow77]

 Now that you mention it, I wish both well. I referred to the ETA, but I wish the French nothing but prosperity and happiness.

[Jaron]

I think it is very disrespectful to use the term "whack" in this case. It makes it sound too light hearted, almost comedic. I conjure images of a french policeman being hit in the head by an ETA terrorist with a giant mallet as he rounds the corner.

Poor taste of words on your part, Tim. I bet you wouldn't make a title "Al Qaeda whacks US soldier in Iraq" would you? I didn't think so.

[The Larch]

Now that you mention it, I wish both well. I referred to the ETA, but I wish the French nothing but prosperity and happiness.

So why do you wish ETA well?

[Lettow77]

 They are seperatists. The basques, like everyone else, have a right to their own nation. I believe in the right to self-determination, and do not inherently reject violence as a suitable means for solving problems, although it is properly reserved as the last resort.

I tend to support secessionists wherever I find them.

[Neil]

Poor taste of words on your part, Tim.

The expression you used is awkward and incorrect.  Posting rationally is clearly not for you.  Instead, why don't you return to trolling and one-liners?

[The Larch]

They are seperatists. The basques, like everyone else, have a right to their own nation. I believe in the right to self-determination, and do not inherently reject violence as a suitable means for solving problems, although it is properly reserved as the last resort.

I tend to support secessionists wherever I find them.

So, even despite ETA's long track record of violence against civilians, and their terroristic operations, they still have your support?

[Lettow77]

 Plenty of people support countries with standing armies that commit violence against civilians; I am merely supporting the army of an aspiring country.

[barkdreg]

Plenty of people support countries with standing armies that commit violence against civilians; I am merely supporting the army of an aspiring country.

It has probably been mentioned many times in more eloquent ways but I'll say it anyway:  "You are an idiot!".

[Lettow77]

 I find the actions regrettable, and it's not how i'd conduct secession from a country, but there arguments to be put forward for their manner of conducting business.

I support basque independence, and the ETA is a visible symbol of it.

I apologise if this offends any spanish posters; in a similar manner I have seen some turks take offense at the notion of kurdish independence. Wishining the independence of a section of your country is not equivilent to wishing your country was weakened or what-have-you, and in no way reflects ill feeling torward the spanish people.

[Neil]

They are seperatists. The basques, like everyone else, have a right to their own nation. I believe in the right to self-determination, and do not inherently reject violence as a suitable means for solving problems, although it is properly reserved as the last resort.

I tend to support secessionists wherever I find them.

So, even despite ETA's long track record of violence against civilians, and their terroristic operations, they still have your support?

Why wouldn't they?  Violence, even against civilians, is an essential tool of statesmanship.

[Duque de Bragança]

/nitpick

Title is wrong it wasn't in Paris not even Gross Paris and Dammarie-les-Lys isn't exactly near Paris.