Basque group 'plotted to shoot down king's plane'
Basque separatists ETA considered assassinating Spain’s King Juan Carlos by attacking his plane or helicopter with a surface-to-air missile, the government said today.
Interior minister Alfredo Rubalcaba said the plot was detected in 2004 and never made it into the planning stages. He gave no further details.
The newspaper El Correo reported over the weekend that several CDs found in France at an ETA hideout in 2004 showed the group had considered attacking the king with a surface-to-air missile while he flew by plane or helicopter, firing on the aircraft from near an airport or military base.
The newspaper said French anti-terrorist police who found the CDs also found the remains of a spent missile cartridge, which it said showed ETA had carried out a firing test.
The CDs said Spain’s prime minister or Cabinet members could also be targeted, the newspaper said.
“It is true that there was a theoretical study that went no further than that ... There was no concrete planning,” Mr Rubalcaba said.
In 1995, Spanish authorities thwarted a plot to shoot the king with a long-range rifle while he was on vacation in Palma, Mallorca.
