| Name assigned by coder: |
no
|
| PGM ID Number: |
5
|
| Country: |
Spain |
| Date formed: |
Jan. 1, 1979 |
| Details of Formation: |
Group announced its existence in Dec 1983, set up by two brothers who have been linked to anti-ETA activity since 1979.
Those linked to the brothers were, in the 1960s, members of the Secret Army Organisation who fought against Algerian independence |
| Date dissolved: |
Jan. 1, 1987 |
| Details of Termination: |
Terminated in 1987 when France agreed to deport ETA activists |
| Successor group(s): |
none
|
| Private Military Company? |
no |
| Government Relation: |
type1 |
| Government Link(s): |
state/military institution
|
| Training and Equipment |
no information |
| Shared Information and Joint Operations |
no information |
| Shared personnel |
yes |
| Types of Material Support: |
corporation
|
| State Sponsor(s): |
none
|
| Other Connection(s): |
French underworld |
| Membership: |
security forces; mercenary; ex soldiers
|
| Location: |
Basque region (Spain and France) |
| Force Strength: |
[unknown,
unknown] |
| Target(s): |
rebels, insurgents, or other armed group
|
| Purpose(s): |
protect national borders and integrity
|
| Other Information: |
Targets ETA members (retaliation for ETA violence)
responsible for the deaths of 23-28 presumed Basque seperatists
Involvement in group denied by Spanish Government (1984)
Involvement privately admited by some government officials (1986)
Court case by judge to establish whether there was a link between socialist goverment and group(1987)
Headquarters believed to be in Aix-en-Provence
1994 - reported that two Spanish police officers are in jail for hiring mercenaries to carry out murders in the 80s (jailed in 1991)
Christmas 1994 - 3 former security chiefs formally accused of involvement
1996 - Supreme court finds no evidence to link Prime Minister Gonzales to GAL
1995 - Deputy Prime Minister and former Interior Minister named by the jailed former security chiefs as being involved |
