18.11.08 - 10:04 -
This files picture shows a handout photo from the Spanish Interior Ministry of Garikoitz Aspiazu, alias Txeroki. / AFP FILE PHOTO
The suspected military chief of the Basque militant group ETA, Garikoitz Aspiazu, alias 'Txeroki', was arrested overnight in the French Pyrenees, French Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie said today in a statement.
Mikel Garikoitz Aspiazu was arrested in the early hours of this morning along with a woman in the French town of Cauterets, in the south west of France, in an operation worked jointly by Spanish and French police.
Both 'Txeroki' and the woman, who is thought to be Leire López Zurutuza, one of the most wanted ETA members, were armed at the time that they were arrested but they were not given the opportunity to use their arms thanks to the quick intervention by the French forces. They had been living in a house in the ski resort tourist town of Cauterets, which is 32 kilometres from Lourdes.
Garikoitz Aspiazu, 'Txeroki', was the military leader of ETA for five years and the attacks that he organised include the car bomb in the car park in Barajas in December 2006 which killed two people and put an end to the cease fire.
'Txeroki' is also suspected of being responsible for the death of the two Civil Guards, Raul Centeno and Fernando Trapero, killed on December 1st 2007 in the French town of Capbreton.
Shortly after the arrests Michèle Alliot-Marie congratulated the officers and bodies involved in the operation and French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, said that it "proves once again the strong commitment that the French forces have and the excellent collaboration that exists between France and Spain to the fight against Basque terrorism."
