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French police arrest suspected Eta terrorist leader

Tuesday, 18 November 2008

French police arrest suspected Eta terrorist leader

French interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie has revealed that the suspected military leader of the Basque separatist group, Eta, has been arrested in the Pyrenees in southern France.

35-year-old Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, who is also known as "Txeroki", who is now being held, is suspected of having murdered two Spanish civil guard officers in the French town of Capbreton in 2007.

The separatist organisation Eta is thought to have killed more than 820 people in its 40-year campaign for independence for the Basque nation.

Eta had resumed its campaign of terrorism in June last year, and Mr Aspiazu Rubina, whose nickname means Cherokee, is said to have acted as a key figure in the group’s decision to resume its attacks.

Mr Alliot-Marie stated that Mr Aspiazu Rubina had been arrested overnight in the Hautes-Pyrenees region of south-western France.

Basque news agency, Vasco Press, revealed further that Mr Aspiazu Rubina had been arrested along with another Eta suspect in the town of Cauterets.

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