The man thought to be the new military chief of the Basque separatist organisation ETA, Aitzol Iriondo ‘Gurbitz’, has been detained in France along with two other members of ETA.
The arrests followed a joint investigation by the Spanish and French authorities and were carried out in the town of Bagnéres de Bigorre in the Pyrenees. The other two detainees are believed to be Eneko Zarrabeitia Salterain ‘Sorgin’ and Aitor Artetxe, both wanted in connection with several bomb attacks in Spain.
Aitzol Iriondo, known as ‘Gurbitz’, had only taken over as military head of ETA following the arrest last month of Garikoitz Aspiazu, ‘Txeroki’.
‘Gurbitz’ is suspected of involvement in the shooting dead of two Guardia Civil officers in December 2007.
In a parallel operation, Guardia Civil officers in Irún arrested three more members of ETA, including the girlfriend of one of those arrested in Bagnéres de Bigorre.