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Latest update: 28/02/2010
- Basque separatists - ETA - terrorism
ETA’s top military chief arrested in Normandy, Spanish govt says
Ibon Gogeascoechea Arronategui, whom the Spanish Government alleges is the "most senior" member of the Basque separatist organisation ETA, has been arrested in Normandy in France along with two other senior members.
AFP - The presumed military chief of the armed Basque separatist organisation ETA was arrested Sunday in northwestern France, the Spanish interior ministry announced.
Ibon Gogeascoechea Arronategui, who was arrested during a joint Spanish and French operation, was the "most senior" member of ETA, the ministry said in a statement.
He was picked up in the Lower Normandy region with two other people, one of whom was suspected of involvement in the 2008 assassinations of a Spanish socialist parliamentarian and a businessman, it said.
ETA is blamed for nearly 830 deaths in its 41-year armed struggle for independence for the Basque region of northern Spain and southwest France.
It is considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union and United States.
Several members of the separatist outfit, mainly members of its armed wing, have been arrested in France in recent years.
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