DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS
TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL
(S//SI) Basque Separatist Ceasefire Has Little Impact on SIGINT
Relationship With Spain
FROM: Michael Clifford
formerly of FAD's Europe Office (DP11)
Run Date: 06/16/2006
(U) ETA remains the focus.
(U) The Basque separatist group ETA declared a permanent ceasefire on 22 March 2006 after
almost four decades of attacks in Spain. The announcement could signify the end of one of
Western Europe's bloodiest guerrilla campaigns and be the beginning of a democratic process to
construct a new framework for the establishment of an independent state in northern Spain and
southwest France.
(U) Caution reigns heavy, however, as the ETA has twice broken ceasefires in the
1990s. Furthermore, it is unclear how many of the 2.1 million Basques want an independent
state run by the moderate Basque Nationalist Party. Spain's government is not totally void of
optimism. Spain's Deputy Prime Minister, Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, has hailed the ceasefire
as "good news for all Spaniards." She added, though, that the government has a responsibility
to be more prudent than ever and that the government desires this ceasefire to be "the
beginning of the end."
(U) People hold the flag of the Basque Country during a demonstration in Madrid. (Reuters)
(S//SI) So, how does this impact the SIGINT relationship between NSA and Spain's Centro
Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI, the National Intelligence Center)? The NSA-CNI SIGINT
partnership has been built on the ETA target set since 2002, and despite some minor
modifications to increase the focus areas, the partnership remains a counterterrorism-centric
exchange that jointly prosecutes ETA communications. Immediately following the ceasefire
announcement, CNI's Chief of SIGINT,
informed the NSA SIGINT
Liaison Officer in Madrid that nothing has changed for the CNI.
(S//SI) In fact,
believes that the ceasefire announcement and ETA talks with the
government of Spain will cause some heretofore unlocated exiles to poke their heads up and
make some calls back home to see if their particular status will change. These communications,
many of which originate in Latin America, will carry a high priority. Finally, according to press,
the Prime Minister has ordered the State Security Forces and the CNI to verify if the "permanent
ceasefire" is "total and definitive." Much work lies ahead to verify that attacks and acts of
street violence have ceased and to measure the ETA's recruitment, training,
procurement, and financial activities.
(U) Politically, the ETA announcement has proven a major victory for Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero and his government, which had been accused of being weak on terrorism.
The breakthrough with ETA will likely benefit the Socialist Party through the 2008 general
elections.
(U) ETA Facts:
ETA means Basque Homeland and Freedom (Basque Language: Euskadi Ta Askatasuna)
Emerged as a student resistance movement in 1959 against the late Spanish dictator
Francisco Franco.
Classified as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the US State
Department.
1980: ETA's bloodiest year with more than 100 killed.
1985: Only US casualty. American tourist in Madrid killed while jogging.
1987: Deadliest single attack - 21 killed in market attack in Barcelona
May 2003: last fatal attack
More than 850 killed in more than 40 years of terror.
(U//FOUO) This article is reprinted from the Foreign Affairs Digest , May edition.
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid comms)."
DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS
TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL
DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108