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Spain's separatist ETA leader arrested in France
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-18 10:34 Several ETA suspects have been arrested in recent years and Spanish authorities say the group has been reduced to a relatively small number of fighters. But it has continued to carry out regular bombings.
ETA began its violent campaign for the independence of the Basque Country in northern Spain in the late years of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco in the 1960s, and has killed more than 800 people in four decades. With the Basque language receiving state support and the region enjoying considerable autonomy over areas including education and health, ETA has become increasingly isolated. Polls indicate most Basques do not want independence and there have been media reports of disagreements between ETA and its outlawed political wing Batasuna. French police arrested Aspiazu in the apartment he had been renting since last week in the spa town of Cauterets. They found a pistol, a computer and fraudulent French and Spanish identity documents, as well as a wig. He made no comment during his arrest. The two policemen he is suspected of killing were in France to keep him under surveillance in a joint operation between French and Spanish police. They were shot in their car in the parking lot of a shopping centre when they encountered a group of three suspected ETA members. Two of the suspects, Asier Bengoa Lopez de Armentia and Soaia Sanchez Iturregi were arrested and charged days later. In a separate development, authorities in Northern Ireland on Monday arrested Basque separatist militant Inaki de Juana Chaos, who spent more than two decades in jail in Spain for crimes including 25 killings. He was freed in August, but Spain issued an international arrest warrant for him after he failed to appear in court to testify in a case in which he was accused of praising terrorism. |
