Police arrested the suspected political leader of the Basque guerrilla group ETA, detained 20 other people and seized weapons in a swoop on the outlawed group in France and Spain on Sunday, officials said.
Mikel Albisu Iriarte, alias "Mikel Antza", said by Spanish authorities to have been ETA's political chief since 1993, was arrested with another suspected ETA veteran, Soledad Iparraguirre, alias "Anboto", at Salies de Bearn in south-western France, according to French police sources.
Iparraguirre, accused of involvement in at least 14 murders, is the highest-ranking woman in ETA, the Spanish Interior Ministry said in a statement. A total of 20 people suspected of links to ETA were detained in France, where dozens of anti-terrorist and local police took part in a series of raids in a search for ETA bases.
Spanish police also arrested a truck driver in the central city of Burgos who was suspected of involvement in attacks last week in which bombs were attached to electricity pylons in Spain.
Comments
Comments are closed.