Despite the many differences in their situations, the two traditions enjoy a bond which goes back many decades.
That link may become more embarrassing to Sinn Fein if ETA goes on using bombs and bullets at a time when Irish republicans continue their journey away from violence. But for the moment the sense of identification remains strong.In west Belfast on Tuesday, Basque activists gave speeches and showed a video, following that with their traditional music and dancing and food. There was also a minute’s silence for those killed in the Basque country.At a political level, the sense of being kindred spirits was forged in the days when both ETA and the Irish republican movement were regarded by many as pariahs because of their resort to violence. Each of them found it useful to have an ally in the same boat. This week Alex Maskey of Sinn Fein said: “We are no strangers to violence and death over here and we extend our deepest sympathy to our Basque friends who stood by us in our darkest days.”Although security agencies no doubt take a keen interest in the connection, the authorities have not for many years voicedconcerns that the two may be involved in a more sinister way in terms of activities such as trading weapons or bombing expertise.In Belfast, the general feeling has been that ETA was closely studying the Irish peace process, and, in calling a ceasefire had probably been strongly influenced by the IRA’s cessation in 1994.One possible parallel lies in ETA saying the primary reason for the abandonment of its ceasefire, and the resort to the fresh wave of killings, was due to the alleged refusal of the authorities to open serious talks with its representatives. This was the same reason given by the IRA in 1996 when it broke its first ceasefire with the bomb on the Isle of Dogs in east London, claiming the Major government was refusing to convene all-party talks.Another parallel lies in the ETA demand for the introduction of international elements.

This was also an aim of Irish republicans, which resulted in the involvement of figures such as former United States senator George Mitchell, Cyril Ramaphosa, former secretary-general of the African National Congress, and former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari.. After suffering repeated attacks this summer by giant seagulls, the embattled residents of the Cÿte d’Azur are confronting a new menace from the animal world: the burly and fearless sanglochon – a cross between a wild boar ( sanglier) and a domestic pig (cochon). After suffering repeated attacks this summer by giant seagulls, the embattled residents of the Cÿte d’Azur are confronting a new menace from the animal world: the burly and fearless sanglochon – a cross between a wild boar ( sanglier) and a domestic pig (cochon).
The omnivorous porcines are invading the region’s elegant coastal resorts in search of gourmet fare in the rubbish bins of restaurants and residents’ villas.”In Nice, neighbourhoods quite close to the city centre are visited at night by these beasts who don’t even hesitate to come and drink out of the swimming pools,” an exasperated official from the agriculture department told the France-Soir newspaper yesterday.Complaints have multiplied in recent weeks from householders dismayed at having their gardens dug up by sanglochons in search of roots and potatoes for which they have a particular weakness.In response, the regional agriculture department has officially classified the creatures as vermin and has authorised professional hunters to shoot the animals on sight. So far 1,820 sanglochons have been killed since the beginning of the year.The animals were originally bred for their meat, but sanglochon chops never really caught on in France despite claims that the creature makes a particularly savoury sausage. As a result many disillusioned farmers gave up farming the beasts, releasing hundreds of them into the hills behind Nice and Saint-Raphaël, where they have been breeding like rabbits.Living wild and free to mate at will, the sanglochon population has exploded, increasing by 600 per cent in the past 15 years.While most householders find the creatures a nuisance, the inhabitants of a housing estate in Saint-Raphaël wereshocked last month when they witnessed a man clutching a shotgun who leapt from his car and shot dead a sanglochon which was quietly rooting around a dustbin for its dinner.The agriculture department is now calling on hunting groups to organise special sanglochon hunting nights and it looks as if the creatures’ halcyon days of summer on the Cÿte d’Azur may soon be over..

Spain’s political leaders held crisis talks on the Basque terrorist threat yesterday as Eta sympathisers took to the streets to honour four activists blown up on Monday while handling their own explosives. Spain’s political leaders held crisis talks on the Basque terrorist threat yesterday as Eta sympathisers took to the streets to honour four activists blown up on Monday while handling their own explosives.
Pro-Eta forces had called for street protests and the closure of shops and businesses throughout the Basque region. Although support was patchy in some small rural communities, there was genuine backing from among the roughly 15 per cent of Basques who vote for pro-Eta parties. Others complied with probable reluctance, fearing reprisals if the order were not observed.Scuffles took place outside Pamplona town hall when Eta supporters disrupted a protest against the terrorism of recent days, and attempted to unfurl a banner calling for Basque prisoners to be brought home.

Police hustled the separatists away and detained Juan Cruz Aldasoro, a member of the executive committee of the pro-Eta political grouping Euskal Herritarrok (Basques Together) Rival groups of demonstrators also clashed in Bilbao. Earlier yesterday, two buses were destroyed by fire in San Sebastian, and in Vitoria the apartment of a police chief was firebombed.The so-called “day of struggle”, which deepened the sense of fear throughout Spain, was called by the leader of Euskal Herritarrok, Arnaldo Otegi, who yesterday hailed the four men who died as “comrades” and “patriots” in the fight for a Basque homeland. His remarks prompted the state prosecutor in Bilbao to accuse Mr Otegi of making an apology for terrorism, a clear breach of the law.The protest by pro-Eta forces coincided with the funeral in Aizoain near Pamplona of 2nd Lieutenant Francisco Casanova Vicente, who was shot in the head on Wednesday. The funeral of this ninth victim of separatist terrorism this year was attended by the Defence Minister, Federico Trillo, amid signs that the government – for all its brave front about not bowing to terrorist blackmail – has no response to the escalating campaign of violence.Meanwhile, the Interior Minister, Jaime Mayor Oreja, and the government’s chief adviser on Basque matters, Javier Zarzalejos, met members of the opposition Socialist party to discuss a joint strategy against terrorism.

The emergency meeting followed an approach by the recently elected socialist leader, Jose Luis Zapatero, who expressed his “enormous willingness” to cooperate.Mr Mayor Oreja reaffirmed the need for calm and resolution in the face of mounting violence. He admitted these were “very hard times” but insisted the government would hold fast to its hardline strategy as the only course possible: “The only policy that Spain can adopt against terrorism is that which the government is carrying out, which means we must persevere and resist,” he said.Within the Basque country, there is growing concern that Madrid’s intransigence is leading nowhere.One Basque businessman close to Jose Maria Korta, the industrialist killed in a car-bomb attack on Tuesday, said yesterday: “The more difficult the situation is, the more the need for dialogue.”But with dialogue now apparently off the government’s agenda, a harsher clampdown seems the only option, giving security forces greater freedom of action. This would polarise Basque opinion, and some fear that is exactly what Eta wants to provoke.. A stray piece of metal on a runway probably caused 113 deaths by slashing a tyre on the Concorde which crashed moments after take-off last month, France’s Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA) said yesterday. A stray piece of metal on a runway probably caused 113 deaths by slashing a tyre on the Concorde which crashed moments after take-off last month, France’s Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA) said yesterday.
The finding could mean that Air France’s six-strong Concorde fleet, grounded on the orders of the French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot since the accident on 25 July, will soon be able to fly again.