Linking Terrorism Worldwide

1
Linking Terrorism Worldwide

• Since the 1970s the ETA has been conducting
  business with terrorist factions worldwide
• Globalization has made communication and the
  black market sales of weapons a simpler task

2
The International Ties of Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna

• E.T.A, Basque Fatherland and Liberty the Herri
  Batasuna
• IRA Sinn Fein the political wing of the IRA
• FARC, revolutionary armed forces of Colombia
• Sandinista National Liberation Front (Nicaragua)

3
Reasons for Linkages

• The ETA have established links with other
  terrorist factions due to similarities such as
• Socialist Marxist ideologies
• Tactical similarity
• Sharing expertise
• Buying selling of weaponry

4
Reasons for linkages

• No single international terrorist group
• Existing groups do share commonalities such as
• Associated criminal activities
• Infrastructure (often supported by cocaine)

5
History of Linkages

• The ETA have had links to the IRA since the civil
  rights movement in the 60s
• 1970s the ETA supplied the newly established
  PIRA with 50 firearms as a gift
• In return the PIRA supplied heavy explosives
  training to the ETA in the summer of 1972 in
  County Kent, Ireland

6
History of Linkages

• 1966 Havana, Cuba the first official conference
  between revolutionary factions
• Castro harbored revolutionaries
• Supplied support, collaboration and safe haven
  for the ETA

7
Recent Links

• 5/23/1993, ETA bunker discovered in Santa Rosa,
  Nicaragua
• 307 passports from 22 countries, blank voter
  identification cards, 7000 pages of documents,
  hundreds of AK-47s, machined guns, RPGs, tons
  of ammunition and C4 as well as 19 surface-to-air
  shoulder-fired missiles

8
Recent Links Cont.

• 10/20/2003 ETA stocks Sinn Feins arsenal with C4
• Decommissioning fulfilled a symbolic gesture of
  peace.
• New C4 replaces lifeless Semtex.

9
Recent Links Cont.

• 10/4/2004, two surface-to-air missiles are found
  in ETA arsenals in SW France
• Documents provide information tying them to the
  IRA
• Sale occurred sometime in 2000

10
Future of ETA

• 9/20/1998, Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein,
  urges ETA to find democratic solution to armed
  conflict
• 3/22/06 ETA announces indefinite ceasefire.
• Herri Batasuna may or may not respect the
  ceasefire drawn upon by the ETA

11
Finally

• The networking of terrorist factions stretchers
  much further beyond what I have explained here.
  The ETA, IRA, FARC, and FNLF all have ties to the
  middle east, many with Al Quaida. Although the
  ETA were cleared of the March 11th, 2004 bombings
  in Madrid they have supplied Al Quaida with
  weapons in the past and may have supplied the
  very explosives which, tore through the streets
  of Madrid

12
Bibliography

• http//www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0
  ,13005,901030224-423493,00.html
• http//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml/ne
  ws/2002/06/30/nira30.xml
• http//www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,132
  0419,00.html
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/176082.stm