17 December 2007

BILBAO - A small bomb went off early Sunday morning at the magistrate's court in the Basque town of Sestao, shortly after the terrorist group ETA warned authorities about its presence. Police confirmed that no one was injured, and that damage from the explosion was limited to a two-metre-deep crater near the entrance to the courthouse.

Although a warning call was placed 40 minutes before the bomb went off, explosives experts did not have time to deactivate the device.

"I am calling in ETA's name. At one in the morning a bomb will go off at the magistrate's court in Sestao. Did you hear that?" a voice said in a call to DYA, a road assistance group.

The bomb in Sestao, a town of around 30,000 people, was placed a day after ETA admitted to being behind the killing of two Civil Guard officers in France earlier this month. In a statement, the terrorist group said it will continue to attack "the repressive forces of the Spanish state, wherever that may be." In the statement, ETA claimed responsibility for five "armed actions" in the last few months, including the recent killing of the Civil Guard agents in the French town of Capbreton.

[Copyright EL PAÍS, SL. 2007]

Subject: Spanish news