CIA documents link former Spanish president with mercenaries hired to kill ETA members

Declassified CIA documents of 1984 suggest that Spain's president at that time, Felipe González, gave the go-ahead to hire mercenaries to kill members of the armed group ETA.

The report, originally quoted by Spanish daily 'La Razón' and available online on the website of the American intelligence agency, has sparked outrage among some Catalan and Basque parties.

"González has agreed to create a group of mercenaries, controlled by the Spanish army, to fight terrorists outside the law," reportedly CIA in the 1984 paper.

"The mercenaries would not necessarily be Spaniards and their mission would be killing the leaders of ETA in both Spain and France."