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ETA suspects arrested at "bomb factory" Police arrested four suspected Basque separatist guerrillas in southern France in what they have described as a "bomb factory" where a car bomb was apparently being prepared. At least two of those detained - three men and a woman - are said to be leading ETA militants. Special forces raided the house near the French town of Cahors after a joint intelligence operation between Paris and Madrid. Police say all four people arrested were armed but surrendered immediately. The Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said one of the group was one of ETA's...

MADRID -- When most Americans hear the word Basque they think "terrorist." It's not quite fair, but that's what many Spaniards think, too. Most Spaniards -- large majorities, by the polls -- blame not only the bombers, but the prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, as well for his coddling the terrorists.. A terrorist organization called Basque Fatherland and Liberty, or ETA for short, took responsibility for the car bomb. ETA is often compared to the Irish Republican Army, but the comparison is not exact. What the two organizations have held in common is their ability to kill without conscience....

Britain and Ireland are so thoroughly divided in their histories that there is no single word to refer to the inhabitants of both islands. Historians teach that they are mostly descended from different peoples: the Irish from the Celts and the English from the Anglo-Saxons who invaded from northern Europe and drove the Celts to the country’s western and northern fringes. But geneticists who have tested DNA throughout the British Isles are edging toward a different conclusion. Many are struck by the overall genetic similarities, leading some to claim that both Britain and Ireland have been inhabited for thousands of...

Madrid blast 'ends Eta ceasefire' The government says Eta has ended the ceasefire Basque separatist group Eta have carried out a car bomb attack at a Madrid airport ending a ceasefire, the Spanish government has announced.At least four people were injured in the blast in the car park of terminal four at Barajas Airport. "It is an attack which breaks nine months without violent actions by Eta," said Spain's interior minister. He said the prime minister would stress later that "violence and dialogue are incompatible in democracy". Officials said Eta had made a call to claim the attack -...

Something between 200,000 and one million people took to the streets of Madrid (see photo) for a demonstration against appeasement of terrorists. The ETA Basque terrorists, who are to enter talks with the government were the proximate cause. But also the Muslim terrorists who dream of reconquista - re-claiming Spain for the Dar al Islam. Speakers and many in the chanting crowd denounced PM Zapatero, who unexpectedly won Spain for the Socialists in the wake of the Madrid terror bombing and who now proposes to negotiate with the ETA thugs. The crowd was apparently chanting against both forms of appeasement.

Third century Roman inscriptions discovered in the Basque Country 06/08/2006 Archaeologists in the site of Iruña-Veleia have discovered an epigraphic set "among the most important of the Roman world" with drawings from the third century and a representation of a Calvary. Archaeological site in Iruña-Veleia Archaeologists in the site of Iruña-Veleia have discovered an epigraphic set "among the most important of the Roman world," with a series of 270 inscriptions and drawings from the 3rd century and a representation of a Calvary, "the most ancient known up to this moment." The managers of the archaeological site, located near the Alavan...

San Sebastian, Spain - No frontier marks the entrance to Spain's Basque region, but the traveller passing by quaint villages on green hillsides has a clear sense of entering a distinct territory. It is not just the Basque flags here and there. It is, above all, the signs in a strange language unlike any other in the world. A travel bureau, for instance, is marked 'bidaiak.' An ice-cream shop has a sign saying 'izozkiak.' A police station is marked 'ertzainza', and an office of the Basque regional government is called 'eusko jaurlaritza.' Scientists remain puzzled by the Basque people of...

VITORIA, Spain - The Basque separatist group ETA announced a permanent cease-fire Wednesday, ending a decades-long campaign of violence and closing the door on one of Western Europe's last active armed separatist movements. The news prompted quiet jubilation in Spain, which has endured more than 800 deaths and $15.5 billion in economic damage since the 1960s as part of the group's campaign to carve out an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France. In a video statement, ETA said it "has decided to declare a permanent cease fire as of March 24, 2006."

Jewel of the Magdalenian period A necklace and pendants made 15,500 years ago have been discovered in the Praile I cave; it is the most important Upper Paleolithic find in the Basque Country in recent years Mikel Lizarralde – DONOSTIA (San Sebastian) A Magdalenian treasure of the Upper Paleolithic has lain hidden for the last 15,500 years in the Praile I cave in Deba (Gipuzkoa). Excavations done over the last few years by a team led by the archaeologist Xabier Peñalver of the Aranzadi Society of Sciences have uncovered spectacular jewellery. Four stunning necklaces of smooth black stone, another one...

Bilbao, Spain, Sep 3 (EFE).- The terrorist organization ETA has sent a new batch of letters to businesses in Spain's Basque region demanding payment of a "revolutionary tax," local newspapers reported Saturday. Some of the recipients own small businesses that had previously not been the object of ETA extortion attempts. Security forces have also seen flyers stamped with the ETA acronym in the Basque city of San Sebastian calling for a boycott of Basque companies that refuse to pay protection money. A document discovered by Spanish police in July listed the names of dozens of targeted businesses in the...

ETA WARN OF BOMB IN VALLE DE LOS CAIDOS, FRANCO'S BURIAL PLACE NEAR MADRID-POLICE

Car Bomb Explodes in Madrid; 18 Injured By DANIEL WOOLLS, Associated Press Writer MADRID, Spain - A powerful car bomb exploded in Madrid Wednesday after a warning call from the armed Basque separatist group ETA, police said, in the latest of a string of attacks since Spain's prime minister offered talks with the group if it renounces violence. Eighteen people were slightly injured, said Beatriz Martin, the city's emergency medical department spokeswoman. The explosion occurred around 9:30 a.m. in a working-class district north of the Spanish capital. Police cordoned off the area where the bomb went off after an anonymous...

Hard explosion next to the Palace of Congresses of Madrid A strong explosion has registered this morning next to the Palace of Congresses of Madrid. According to eyewitnesses, a car is destroyed in the Avenue of the $andes. The police and cash of the SAMUR are moving to the place of the facts and the buildings of the zone are being evacuated. The place of the outbreak is to few meters of IFEMA, where this late ARC with the attendance of the Kings and the president of Mexico is inaugurated, Vicente Fox.

On February 1st the Spanish parliament debated—and rejected—a proposal to allow the country's three Basque provinces to secede from Spain. Given that more than 90% of parliamentarians are opposed to the plan, which was put forward by the president of the Basque region, Juan José Ibarretxe, the result was a foregone conclusion. However, with the regional government of the Basque Country considering holding a referendum on the plan in the months ahead, the threat of a major constitutional crisis will hang heavy over Spain this year. The Basque regional parliament took a step closer to precipitating a clash with the...

Protesters rough up Spain's macho defence minister SPAIN'S defence minister, José Bono, likes to wrap himself in the national flag. He is less used to being struck by one, as he was at a protest last weekend staged by the Association of Victims of Terrorism in Madrid. The 35,000-strong rally was called to commemorate all victims of terrorism, including those killed in the March 11th Madrid train bombings. But the protesters' bigger target was the Basque terrorist group, ETA. And the attack on Mr Bono was the work of right-wing thugs. What Mr Bono, a devout Catholic and patriot who...

The leader of the Basque regional government has addressed the Spanish parliament in Madrid, proposing more independence for his homeland. Juan Jose Ibarretxe opened his speech in the Basque language, before continuing in Spanish. But his proposals for a separate judiciary, financial system and citizenship were dismissed by the Spanish prime minister and other MPs. The autonomy plan is expected to be overwhelmingly rejected in a vote. Mr Ibarretxe began his address in Basque, breaking the parliament's ground rules, which say all discussions must be in Spanish. 'Free state' "I have come to the Spanish parliament to defend the right...

One would like to think of Spain's repulsive Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, as just an unpleasant byproduct of last March's terrible terrorist attacks on Madrid commuter trains. Zapatero's only there because Spain's traumatized voters temporarily lost their senses in an election held just days after huge terror attacks and unexpectedly voted him in. But he's rapidly shaping up as something more nefarious than merely Jacques Chirac's faithful poodle. Politics are taking some strange disorienting directions in Spain now as a result of Zapatero's radical leftist government. Thursday, Spain's Basque Parliament voted 39-35 to scale back ties to Madrid,...

The Cable news networks are reporting 4 explosions that just happened in Madrid, after apparent Basque threats this morning

This looks like a merger of ETA and Al Qaeda to me

Burushaski is a language spoken in northern Pakistan and Kashmir. It is spoken by 40,000 to 50,000 people. It has no known relatives and some believe it maybe a remnant of a prehistoric language. Burushaski is like Ainu and Basque, language isolate with no known relatives. Language Museum Burushaski: An Extraordinary Language in the Karakoram MountainsWikipedia-Burushaski