Welcome to the tuSPAIN weekly review of the Spanish media. Cristina Marquez Arroyo de Camihort has selected a wide range of articles covering general news about Spain, politics, business and culture. We also invite you to view the latest news from Spain (in Spanish) at the web sites of El Pais, El Mundo, ABC and El Periodico

NEWS REVIEW
12 - 19 January, 1997

• THREE SPANIARDS EXECUTED IN RWANDA
• ETA TERRORIST ARRESTED
• SPAIN AND THE CRISIS IN PERU
• A NEW FINANCIAL MODEL BENEFITS CATALUNYA
• FINES FOR USING SPANISH
• 9 MILLION HOURS WASTED ON STRIKES DURING 1996
• CARLOS MOYA IN AUSTRALIA
• AUSTRALIAN OPEN

THREE SPANIARDS EXECUTED IN RWANDA

An extremist militia group from Rwanda shot dead three Spanish aid workers and three soldiers in an overnight attack. The bodies of the three Spaniards, Dr. Manuel Madrazo Osuna from Sevilla, Maria Flores Sirera Fortuny, a nurse from Lerida and Luis Maria Voltuena, a photographer working as a volunteer administrative aid from Madrid, lay in a pool of blood in the workers' house of "Medicos del Mundo" (Physicians from the World), the organisation with offices in Ruhegeri where they were working as humanitarian aids. In Paris, the parent organisation (named Medecins du Monde), announced it was cancelling all activities in Rwanda until further information on the killings was available.

Inocencio Arias, a spokeman for the Spanish Foreign Minister, said that Spain condemned the killings and the government had sent condolences to the families and was now concentrating their efforts in getting the corpses back to the country and advising the rest of the group still in Rwanda to leave immediately.

According to an American who lost a leg in the attack, the attackers stormed into the house and asked for the Spaniardīs passports. When they were distracted by noise of gunfire outside the house, they shot the the woman and the two men in their heads. The bodies of the three victims will remain in the city where the murders took place until the French Embassy in Kigali completes the arrangements for their return to Spain. Jacques Courbin, the French Ambassador, stated that the French government is taking all the steps necessary to expedite the political procedures involved.

The attack was the latest in a series involving expatriates in the area, which is near the border with Zaire. The house was in a compound which housed Medicos del Mundo as well as Save the Children, at about 225 km Northwest of Kigali. Three Rwandan soldiers were also killed in the attack on the Spaniards' house. According to a local military officer, the extremist groups are operating from inside Rwanda, and their objective is to scare away the expatriates now working on humanitarian missions in order to mount attacks against the civil population more easily. The United Nations has warned that if violence escalates in Rwanda , the humanitarian operations will be suspended. The only Spanish survivor of the group, Socorro Avedillo, has decided to return to Spain immediately after the murder of her colleagues.

ETA TERRORIST ARRESTED

The French Gendarmerie has inflicted a hard blow to ETA by arresting Jose Luis Urrusolo Sistiaga, aka Langile, one of the groupīs key members. The terrorist, who was arrested last Thursday night near Duras, close to Bordeaux, had fake documentation showing him as a correspondent in Madrid for the French newspaper "Sud-Ouest". The criminal was driving a car which had been stolen in Bordeaux the day before, and carried a fake license plate. He is also known as "the man of the thousand faces", due to his ability to use disguises. He is accused of carrying out 18 killings and two kidnappings in Spain and was the third most important person in the terrorist group's leadership structure.

The arrest of Urrusolo, who was one of the most wanted members of the terrorist group, has prevented him from becoming the Commander in Chief of the criminal group in the near future. Urrusolo was disguised as a journalist, and in this capacity and with a forfeited passport, he visited Nicaragua en 1993. This was confirmed by the documentation found in his belongings after his arraignment. He was responsible for a program of "structured workshops" training given to ETA units in France, before they entered Spain to carry out the attacks. In his home in Roumagne, where the terrorist from ETA "Karpov" also resided, the French Police has also seized some manuals on the use of explosives and weapons as well as three computers.

His criminal history is a trickle of blood. He was one of the most active terrorists and the Spanish Home Office holds him responsible, either directly or indirectly, for around thirty attacks which resulted in eighteen people dead, as well as the kidnapping of Emiliano Revilla and Diego Prado y Colon de Carvajal and the blasting of one of the buildings of Telefonica in Madrid. During the last six months, five leading members of the Mafia style group ETA have been arrested in France, which proves the increasing collaboration between the French authorities in the fight against terrorism. Jaime Mayor Oreja, the Spanish Interior Minister, expressed in a press conference his recognition to the French government for their collaboration to detain Urrusolo Sistiaga. In a phone conversation with Jean Louis Debre, the French Interior Minister, he qualified as "exemplary" the co-operation from the neighbouring country, which is crucial to wipe out the terrorist group. The Spanish government considers this a considerable blow to ETA.

In the meantime, the Supreme Court has already started proceedings on the eleven charges that Urrusolo faces at this Tribunal, in order to request his extradition formally to the French authorities. The first indictment is related to the shooting of two national policemen in Barcelona, on December 13, 1991. Urrusolo Sistiaga, who is 38, was caught after his car crashed while fleeing a police checkpoint in Bordeaux. He was one of the mentors of a failed campaign to disrupt the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

SPAIN AND THE CRISIS IN PERU

Isaac Velasco, the MRTA (Revolutionary Movement Tupac Amaru) international spokesman, said on Friday in Copenhagen, that the terrorist group wants Spain or Italy, in addition to Guatemala, to sit on the "guarantor commission" proposed by the government. So far, there is an agreement on the participation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Vatican. But the Government of Fujimori has rejected the participation of a European country. At the same time, the government also rejected the request that Guatemala take part in negotiations to end the crisis. In order to end the stand-off, Peru has proposed the creation of a joint commission to negotiate an end to the crisis. The rebels accepted the proposal, but only if Guatemala is part of the commission. The government dismissed this request on Thursday. They only accepted the participation of the archbishop of Ayacucho, Juan Luis Cipriani and the International Red Cross, who could be part of the mediation panel.

Peru's hostage crisis has lasted for almost a month. Rebels still hold 74 captives. However, in the rest of the country, Peruvians have other things to think about. As the hostage stand-off becomes routine, people gets busy with concerns of daily life, like inflation, jobs, and the national soccer team. The government is not only pleased by this attitude, but also determined to reduce the attention that rebels have received from the media, asking TV executives to scale back coverage. The Marxist group also released an anti- terrorist policeman because of medical reasons, leaving 73 captives inside the Japanese ambassador's residence.

A NEW FINANCIAL MODEL BENEFITS CATALUNYA

Jordi Pujol, the President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, estimated that the "profit" for the Community after the revision of the financial model for the next five years, will be around 340,000 millions pesetas. This figure is compounded by 194,000 millions corresponding to the 30% cession from IRPF, and 140,000 from the capitalisation of some other specific services. Additionally, they will receive an amount for the financing of Health Plans, which will be agreed upon.

FINES FOR USING SPANISH

Alberto Fernandez, President of the Popular Party in Catalunya, stated yesterday that the proposed Bill on the use of Catalonian must be the result of a consensus among all the political forces, "in spite of the declarations of Counsellor Pujals, who does not consider this as important factor in the decision". Fernandez also announced that his party will not support under any circumstances a modification which will avail the application of any type of sanctions, including fines, to the people who wants to talk in Spanish. He stated categorically that the government will not make the mistake of using the issue of social communication in Catalonian as a weapon to punish those who want to express themselves in Spanish.

9 MILLION HOURS WASTED ON STRIKES DURING 1996

Labour conflicts were reduced substantially during 1996, a year in which "only" nine million hours were missed because of strikes, which is a reduction of a 65,21% on the previous year. This result was published in the last report of the Financial and Social situation in Spain from the CEOE. The Entrepreneurs Organisation estimates that the economy will grow by 2,8%, which is slightly lower than the figures provided by the government. The high rate of labour conflicts in Spain has placed this country at the top of the list in the European Community. According to Jose Maria Cuevas, director of CEOE, there have been 795 conflicts in 1996, which resulted in a total of 9,068,529 hours on strike, 65,21% less than in 1995.

CARLOS MOYA IN AUSTRALIA

Melbourne female teenagers have elected a new star in tennis, the young and handsome Spaniard Carlos Moya. He ousted defending champion Boris Becker on Monday, then the American Patrick McEnroe (Johnīs brother), and finally Germany's Bernd Karbacher winning not only the games but a big crowd of largely female fans. Moya, who is only 20-year-old and comes from the Spanish resort island of Majorca, was extremely thankful to the female crowd who cheered him up even when he was one set down. Moya is not the only Spaniard playing well in Melbourne. There are more than a dozen Spaniards in the men's top 100, including Albert Costa, Felix Mantilla and Alberto Berasategui, all of them seeded and winners so far. But Moya, who is a fan of Irish rock group U2 is undoubtedly the star of the tournament and not only among the girls. With his 1.90 metres height and his usual bandanna, the young player is making his way to the final at an astonishing speed. His last victory included defeating Jonas Bjorkman from Sweden.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Results as at January 19 - Individual tournament
CARLOS MOYA (Spain) defeated Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden), 6-3, 1-6, 3-6, 6-2,6-4.
FELIX MANTILLA (Spain) defeated Malivai Washington (USA) 7-5, 6-2, 6-1.
Michael Chang (USA) defeated Andrei Medvedev (UCR) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.
Marcelo Rios (Chile) defeated Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
Mary Pierce (France) defeated Anke Huber (Germany) 6-2, 6-3.
Kimberly Po (USA) defeated Lindsay Davenport (USA), 7-6, 6-4.
Sabine Appelmans (Belgium) defeated CONCHITA MARTINEZ (Spain) 2-6, 7-5,6-1.
Amanda Coetzer (Afs) defeated Steffi Graf (Germany) 6-2, 7-5.