France holds 'Eta military head'

The suspected military chief of the Basque separatist group, Eta, has been arrested in southern France, the French interior minister has announced.

Michele Alliot-Marie said Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, alias "Txeroki", was arrested overnight in the Pyrenees.

She said he was suspected of the murder of two Spanish civil guard officers in the French town of Capbreton in 2007.

Eta is blamed for the deaths of more than 820 people in its 40-year campaign for an independent Basque nation.

The group resumed its campaign of violence in June 2007, following the failure of secret dialogue with the Spanish government. Correspondents say Mr Aspiazu Rubina was a key figure in the decision.

Spain's ruling party hailed the arrest as a "very important" blow to Eta.

"This is magnificent news of great importance because it is the chief of the Eta commandos, the person who was behind attacks, who gave the order to kill and who himself killed, a very blood-thirsty terrorist," the Socialist Party said in a statement.

It follows the detention of Eta's political commander, Javier Lopez Pena, in a joint Spanish-French operation in the French city of Bordeaux in May.

However, the BBC's Steve Kingstone in Madrid says that, in the past, high-profile arrests have always been followed by fresh attacks and Eta is far from defeated.

Police deaths

In a statement, France's interior minister said Mr Aspiazu Rubina, 35, had been arrested overnight in the Hautes-Pyrenees region of south-western France.

The Basque news agency, Vasco Press, said that Mr Aspiazu Rubina, whose nickname means Cherokee, had been detained along with another suspected Eta member in the town of Cauterets.

Ms Alliot-Marie did not provide any other details about the arrest, but said he was "suspected of being the perpetrator" of the murder of two Spanish civil guard officers in Capbreton on 1 December 2007.

"This arrest shows again the resolute commitment of the French police and gendarmerie in the fight against all forms of terrorism and illustrates once again the excellent co-operation between France and Spain in the fight against Basque terrorism," the French statement added.

The two Spanish civil guards were shot during a surveillance operation on suspected Eta members. Their deaths prompted thousands of Spaniards to denounce the separatist group at a march in the capital, Madrid.


French police arrested a man and a woman over the attack several days later - but said at the time they were looking for a third suspect.

Earlier this month, Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said two recently arrested suspected Eta members had said Mr Aspiazu Rubina had told them he had participated directly in the shooting.

One of them had said he "heard Txeroki recognise that he was the assassin of the two policemen," he added.

Eta suffered a major blow in May with the arrest of Mr Lopez Pena, alias "Thierry", along with three other suspected members of the group.

Mr Lopez Pena is alleged to have ordered the December 2006 bombing of Madrid's airport, which ended the 14-month-old ceasefire with the government and killed two people.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7732678.stm

Published: 2008/11/17 10:17:39 GMT

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