Car bomb arrests – nearly five years on

3 March 2004

MADRID – Three ETA terrorists wanted for a bomb attack five years nearly ago were arrested, police said Wednesday.

The Nacional Police detained Ibai Ayensa Laborda, Iker Isiegas Garisoain and Sergio Medina Asanta late Tuesday in Pamplona, in Navarra, in north west Spain.

They were all wanted in relation to a car bomb plot in December 1999 in Pamplona.

The arrests were made on the orders of High Court judge Baltasar Garzón, who deals with many anti-terrorist cases.

Ibai Ayensa was released from prison last month by a judge after completing two years in jail thorugh a preventative order under which he is held in jail simply because he is a member of ETA.

The attempted 1999 bomb attack ended in farce when the explosives went off early, injuring two ETA terrorists driving the car.

Loborda and Asanta were injured in the blast.  Asanta had to go to hospital with a damaged shoulder blade.

The intended target was a bank in Pamplona.

The other man arrested Tuesday, Garisoain, was also thought to have been detained in connection with the plot.

The latest arrests come after two ETA terrorists were detained  Sunday, when a lorry with more than a tonne of explosives was stopped on route to Madrid.

Security forces foiled a massive ETA attack on the capital in the run-up to the general election on 14 March. A council worker was arrested Tuesday in connection with the same plot.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news