ETA planned to kill judge Marlaska and to kidnap a town councilor

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Spanish police made more searches in the Basque Country. Photo: EFE

Police operation against ETA’s Bizkaia unit is still opened and 10 people have been arrested so far. Moreover, two arms dump containing 125 kilos of explosives have been found in the province of La Rioja.

Meanwhile, presumed objectives of the armed Basque group ETA are coming to light through leaking.

According to investigation sources, the leadership of the armed Basque group ETA ordered a year ago one of its units to keep watch of Spain's High Court judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska while the judge was his holiday apartment in Ezcaray (La Rioja) in order to prepare an attack against him. The armed group also planned to kidnap a socialist town councilor in the Basque Country.

Spanish police found tranquilizers in the arms dump of La Rioja, and that led to the conclusion that ETA planned to use them on possible kidnappings.

The kidnapping was set to be similar to the one carried out in 1997 to Miguel Angel Blanco, trying to force Spanish Government to negotiate. Miguel Angel Blanco was kidnapped on July 10, 1997 to force government to move all Basque prisoners to prisons of the Basque Country, and was killed by ETA 48 hours later.