Title: Spanish daily outlines ETA's current structure and activities Document Number: FBIS-WEU-2001-0425 Document Type: Daily Report Document Title: FBIS Translated Text Document Region: West Europe Document Date: 25 Apr 2001 Division: West Europe Subdivision: Spain Sourceline: EUP20010425000290 Madrid El Mundo (Internet Version-WWW) in Spanish 0000 GMT 25 Apr 01 AFS Number: EUP20010425000290 Citysource: Madrid El Mundo (Internet Version-WWW) Language: Spanish [FBIS Translated Text] Spanish daily outlines ETA's current structure and activities Experts in the fight against terrorism suspect that Mikel Albizu, alias Mikel Antza, is located in Paris and that he is the author of ETA's latest communique, a Spanish daily reports. The separatist organization is economically sound and has managed to rebuild its electronic apparatus. The following is the text of a report by Spanish newspaper El Mundo web site on 25 April; subheadings as published: Madrid: After the breakdown of the cease-fire, he had stepped out of the limelight. From taking the lead role on the part of ETA in the conversations with representatives of the [Spanish] government, Mikel Albizu, Mikel Antza, was demoted in the group's executive power structure when the hopes built up during the period without assassinations [September 1998 to December 1999] were shattered. However, the capture of Javier Garcia Gaztelu, [alias] Txapote, ETA's real strongman after the failure of the cease-fire, [has meant that] Mikel Antza has recovered the prominence he previously enjoyed. According to information supplied to El Mundo by sources in the fight against terrorism, after the arrest of, firstly, Inaki de Gracia Arregi, [alias] Inaki de Renteria, and then later, of Txapote, Mikel Antza has once more taken political control of the terrorist organization. Experts situate him in Paris, far from the terrorists' military structure, occupying an important post in the organization once more and marking the political line of ETA's network. In fact, specialists consider it a primary hypothesis that the last communique to be sent by the terrorist organization was written by Mikel Antza. Two leaders This theory is the result of detailed analysis of previous ETA documents, which have always been attributed to Mikel Antza. According to experts consulted by this newspaper, in the military sphere, there are two main leaders in the organization: Jose Antonio Olarra Guridi, who was acting as Garcia Gaztelu's right-hand man until his arrest, and Soledad Iparragirre Genetxea, [alias] Anboto. For a time, experts believed that Anboto was not in France, that she had abandoned the group's executive power structure and settled in South America. However, fresh evidence supports the suspicion that she is in full active service, in France and at the head of its attack groups. The Civil Guard is also convinced that historic ETA leader Jose Luis Arrieta Zubimendi, [alias] Azkoiti, has joined the group's executive. His whereabouts have been unknown since 1990, when he completed a prison sentence in France for his implication in the so-called Sokoa case, when a secret arms cache and factory was found in Bayonne. The possibility that Felix Alberto Lopez de Lacalle, [alias] Mobutu, is trying to enter ETA's executive power structure is also under consideration, after he escaped from a French jail. One thing all experts agree on is that ETA has managed to rebuild its electronic apparatus, after police struck last year in France against its logistical apparatus. Those arrested in the operation have since been replaced by members with extensive technological training. In fact, as bomb disposal experts told us, the terrorists have now managed to perfect a method for detonating explosives using mobile phones. Their security systems are now safer and more precise as they do not need to be very nearby for the detonation order to reach the explosives from the telephone. They have also discovered that the terrorists are placing movement-sensitive devices inside their car bombs, with the intention of killing bomb disposal technicians if they try to gain entry to the vehicle. Specialists are clear on the point that ETA is not suffering financial difficulties. It has more than enough money to maintain its present structure, in terms of both active members and those who are now in reserve. Experts have managed to reach a detailed understanding of the organization's new internal working system. As these sources explained to El Mundo, ETA has now put an end to the stage of forming respective commandos [groups] containing members with or without police records. The groups in charge of carrying out attacks are now mainly made up of ETA members who do not appear on police files and who enjoy a large degree of freedom of movement. The organization works as follows: the attack group goes to France where they receive instructions from the ETA executive on targets they must gather information and data on. They then move to the point in Spain fixed by the executive, which has already supplied them with enough money to be able to carry out their orders without economic difficulties. Material to ETA When they then have gathered all the information on the possible victim, they return to France and hand it over to the executive, either directly or through a network of contacts. The data is sometimes sent by e-mail. The ETA executive studies all the information gathered by its attack groups and decides who is going to be the next victim. There is fresh contact with the terrorists, who, again, return to the south of France. Once there, they receive the order to carry out the attack. The car bomb is given to them already prepared; all they need to do is activate it. The attack group travels to the location set by the executive, they carry out the bombing and return to their home base. According to these sources, the attack groups are mostly made up members from Guipuzcoa [province in Basque Country]. Madrid and Catalonia, the most sensitive areas There are two particularly sensitive areas. This, at least, is how experts in the fight against terrorism see things. [They are] Catalonia and Madrid. There is a climate of intense fear in the capital. The antiterrorist experts' opinion is that ETA will try to carry out its next attack there before the Basque autonomous elections are held on 13 May. Experts are mindful of the fact that, despite having dismantled an ETA attack group when it was about to set up in Madrid, the terrorist organization still has infrastructure in the capital, which means they cannot rule out a fresh attack. The Spanish police, Civil Guard and the Cesid [Higher Centre for Defence Intelligence, secret service] also suspect that ETA has managed to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed after dismantling the Barcelona attack group. All the experts agree that ETA has the backing of marginal radical movements in Barcelona, which could provide cover for the members of the attack group if the occasion required it. The experts also say that last weekend, two coaches left Catalonia bound for Oyartzun [in the Basque Country] packed with youths joining the ranks of others who were attending a series of concerts organized by the radical [youth] movement, Haika. Acts in praise of ETA are usual at these events. During this meeting, in which more than 7,000 young people took part, there were also calls to activate the campaign of civil disorder known in Basque as the "kale borroka" [street struggle]. [Description of Source: Madrid El Mundo (Internet Version-WWW) in Spanish -- independent national daily]