Spain welcomes EU terror move

ETA is one of the groups on the list

MADRID, Spain -- Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has praised the European Union for broadening a list of terrorist groups to include organisations and individuals accused of funding terrorism.

The list contains for the first time organisations and individuals based in the 15-nation bloc, including several Basque separatist groups and Spaniards accused of backing ETA -- a group responsible for killing hundreds in its campaign for an independent Basque homeland.

"September 11 has had positive consequences," Aznar's spokesman, Pio Cabanillas, told The Associated Press.

"It has led to an affirmation of what we have been saying, that terrorist groups are not the only ones that kill. Those who help and finance them do also."

Among the Spanish groups named were ETA; Gestoras Pro Amnistia -- a support group for jailed Basque separatists, and Segi -- a youth group alleged to be a training organisation for aspiring ETA gunmen.

Twenty-one Spanish citizens accused of ETA links were included in the list of 12 organisations and around 30 individuals which also named Irish Republican Army splinter groups and the Greek far-left group November 17. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad and a Hamas faction were among the non-European groups.

However, the Spanish government failed to win support for the inclusion of Batasuna, the political party widely regarded as ETA's political wing.

A Batasuna spokesman, Pernando Barrena, said the EU list was based on flawed Spanish judicial investigations and would harden the Spanish prime minister's refusal to negotiate with ETA.

He told reporters that a resolution of the Basque conflict "can only come through ... negotiations among all parties involved."

Euskadi Ta Askatasuna -- which means Basque Homeland and Freedom in the Basque language -- has claimed shootings and bombings that have killed more than 800 people since the group launched its violent struggle for independence in 1968.

A blast damaged a mobile telephony installation of telecommunications company Telefonica and adjacent homes in the Bilbao suburb of Arrigorriaga but did not disrupt service, the Spanish news agency Efe reported.

No injuries were reported and no one claimed responsibility for the blast. However, Efe said the explosive substance in the bomb matched a material routinely used by ETA bombers.

The EU package included an agreement to deny safe haven to terrorists, their supporters or financial backers and enhanced co-operation and information exchange among law enforcement agencies.