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CHRONOLOGY-Basque separatist group ETA

14 May 2008 15:25:04 GMT
Source: Reuters

May 14 (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded at a police barracks in northern Spain's Basque Country early on Wednesday, killing one officer in an attack the regional government blamed on ETA militant separatists.

Following is a chronology of some major events since Euskadi ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom) was founded:

1959 - ETA is formed during dictatorship of General Francisco Franco to fight for Basque self-determination.

1968 - ETA carries out first killing: victim is Meliton Manzanas, police chief in the Basque city of San Sebastian.

1973 - Franco's Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco is killed when car passes over explosives planted by ETA in Madrid.

1980 - In its bloodiest year, ETA kills nearly 100 people despite Spain's return to democracy.

Sept. 1985 - First ETA car bomb explodes in Madrid. A U.S. tourist is killed and 16 Civil Guards wounded.

July 1986 - Twelve Civil Guards are killed in Madrid and 50 wounded. Juan Manuel Soares, a repentant Basque separatist, is sentenced to 1,401 years in jail in April 2000 for the killings.

June 1987 - Twenty-one shoppers are killed by a bomb at Barcelona supermarket. ETA apologises.

Sept. 1998 - ETA announces a truce.

Nov. 28, 1999 - ETA announces ceasefire will end on Dec 3.

Nov. 21, 2000 - Socialist Former Health Minister Ernest Lluch shot dead in Barcelona. Nearly one million demonstrate to condemn ETA.

2004 - ETA calls for dialogue with Spain's incoming Socialist government but pledges to maintain its armed campaign.

-- Oct. 10 - New Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero appeals to ETA to give up the fight after the arrest of its suspected leader, Mikel Albisu Iriarte, alias "Mikel Antza".

May 6, 2005 - High Court sentences two ETA members to 2,775 years in jail for a Christmas 2003 plot to plant bombs on a Madrid-bound train.

March 22, 2006 - ETA declares a permanent ceasefire, which comes into force two days later.

-- Dec. 30 - Car bomb explodes at Madrid airport killing two Ecuadorians. Zapatero breaks off peace process.

Jan. 9, 2007 - ETA claims responsibility for airport bomb, says permanent ceasefire still stands.

-- April 8 - ETA says it is ready to make new commitments to the peace process if Spain stops "attacks" in the Basque region where police have been arresting ETA suspects.

-- June 5 - ETA says it will end its 15-month-old ceasefire.

-- Dec. 1 - ETA suspects shoot two Guardia Civil policemen working undercover in France. One dies immediately, the other four days later.

Jan. 14, 2008 - Zapatero rules out any chance of peace talks with ETA and says its only option is unilateral surrender.

-- April 17 - A bomb explodes outside an office of the ruling Socialist Party in Bilbao, wounding seven police officers who had cordoned off the area after a warning from ETA.

-- March 7 - Isaias Carrasco, a former councillor for the Socialist Party, is killed in Mondragon two days before a national election. ETA later claims responsibility.

-- May 14 - A bomb explodes without warning at the Civil Guard barracks in Legutiano killing one policeman, Juan Manuel Pinuel-Villalon. Four others are hurt.

For main story please click on [nL14211146] (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)

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