Basque separatist leader arrested in southwest France

By Alyssa McMurtry

MADRID (AA) - The leader of Basque terrorist group ETA was arrested in southwest France on Saturday in a joint French-Spanish operation, the Interior Ministry said.

Mikel Irastorza, 41, was arrested at a house in the village of Ascain, the ministry said in a statement.

He had been on the run since 2008 but had led the separatist group for just over a year following the arrests of previous leaders in France. Irastorza is the seventh ETA leader arrested since a cease-fire in 2011, El Mundo newspaper said.

Etxerat, an association of families of ETA prisoners, estimates there are currently 346 ETA members behind bars.

ETA launched its terror campaign in 1968, under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and killed an estimated 829 people as it sought to establish an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.

The group has suffered a number of blows since the cease-fire. In October, French police found an ETA weapons cache north of Paris. At the time, El Pais newspaper reported there were just a dozen ETA members still on the run.

The operation that led to the arrest of Irastorza remains open and Spanish media reported that more arrests could follow.