Eta terrorist leader caught in dawn raid

Published on Monday 17 November 2008 11:33

THE suspected head of the Basque militant group Eta was arrested in France today.

Anti-terrorism officers caught Mikel de Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina in the town of Cauterets, near the border with Spain, in a dawn raid.

The 35-year-old Spaniard known by the alias "Txeroki" is the reputed head of Eta's commando units.

He was arrested along with an unidentified Spanish woman, a police official said.

Police seized a handgun, documents and a computer from the hideout.

President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the arrest as a sign of cooperation between French and Spanish police.

The Eta leader is suspected of having a role in the shooting of two Spanish civil guard officers in December while they were conducting an intelligence operation in the coastal French town of Capbreton.

He has been described as one of the most wanted members of Eta, a violent hard-liner who opposed the cease-fire that Eta declared in March 2006 and the subsequent peace talks it held with the government of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Eta ended that truce in December 2006 after the negotiations failed, detonating a massive car bomb at Madrid's Barajas airport and killing two people.

Eta has led a struggle to create an independent homeland straddling northern Spain and south-west France since the late 1960s. The group's violence has claimed more than 800 lives.

After the arrest of two Eta militants announced last week, the French Interior Ministry said 31 suspected Eta members have been arrested in France this year.

• Meanwhile, a convicted Basque terrorist wanted by the Spanish authorities went to a Belfast court today to surrender himself for extradition.

Flag waving Basque supporters gathered outside the Laganside Courthouse when Inaki de Juana Chaos arrived with his lawyer.

The Eta member is wanted on suspicion of praising or supporting terrorism in a letter that was read out in his name at a rally in Spain. In the text he allegedly called on Basque separatists to continue the armed struggle.

The 53-year-old is believed to have been living in West Belfast since his release from prison in Spain. The Spanish authorities issued a European Arrest Warrant to the Police Service of Northern Ireland last Thursday.

When the extradition hearing was due to begin before Recorder Tom Burgess, lawyer Stephen Ritchie, representing the Spanish Government, said the case could not proceed immediately.

He said Mr Chao "will be arrested shortly by agreement and then the matter can be brought before the court at some stage".

He said an interpreter had yet to be engaged.

The terrorist was released from prison in 2004 after serving 18 years for his involvement in a bombing campaign in Spain that claimed 25 lives during the 1980s.

He was re-arrested soon afterwards for allegedly making threats and served a further three years behind bars.

Chaos was accompanied by Belfast lawyer Kevin Winters when he arrived at court for the hearing.

Police later confirmed the Spaniard had been formally arrested under the extradition warrant and was being held at Musgrave police station in Belfast.

The warrant alleged he had committed terrorist offences in Spain, said a spokesman.

He is due to appear in court later.