France arrests suspected military chief of Basque separatist group ETA

France arrests suspected military chief of Basque separatist group ETA

2011-03-11 21:56:28 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- French police on Friday arrested a man suspected of being the military chief of the Basque separatist group ETA, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported.

Alejandro Zobaran Arriola, the suspected leader, was arrested along three other ETA members in a property in north-east France. Police was alerted by the residents of Willencourt, a town in the Pas-de-Calais region.

The group arrived in late February claiming to be a group of Spanish students. However, local residents had their suspicions on them and alerted French anti-terror police.

During the arrest, police seized handguns, fake identity papers, two stolen cars and computer equipment. One of them tried to escape and three are known to the Spainish police.

In addition, two of the suspects are the individuals of an international arrest warrant due to their involvement with a shooting. Arriola has been wanted since 2007 and is suspected of having taken the leadership of ETA's armed faction last year.

In May 2010, Mikel Karrera Sarobe was arrested in the French Basque country. He was the ETA's military leader. It is believed that Arriola took control after that and organized two commando units, codenamed Donosti and Urederra.

The two factions allegedly targeted attacks on Spanish buildings, such as offices and banks. On Tuesday, a suspected member of ETA's armed wing was arrested on southwestern France.

Gregorio Jiménez Morales alias Pistolas was detained while hiding in a house of former ETA member whose son was arrested earlier. Morales was involved in the failed attempt to assassinate then-Spanish premier José María Aznar in 2001.

On January 10, The Basque separatist group ETA announced a permanent ceasefire to the armed conflict as part of its commitment to reach a definitive solution. Spain refused to engage in a dialogue with ETA as the group had broken two similar agreements in the past and did not trust the organization anymore.

The ceasefire was announced to allow the ETA political wing Batasuna to participate again in the political process. Batasuna later launched a new leftist political party that allegedly had no ties with ETA.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-11