Basque separatist leader caught in France

The alleged military head of designated terrorist group ETA was nabbed by French police on Monday. Garikoitz Aspiazu, alias Txeroki (image), is beloved to be the mastermind of numerous murders including the 2006 bombing of Barajas airport which killed two Ecuadorian immigrants.

French and Spanish officials celebrated Aspiazu’s arrest as a massive blow against the violent Basque separatist group. Some experts claim that ETA may be weakened yet will continue its attacks on the Spanish populace.

It has been rumored that ETA has connections to Latin American armed groups, especially Colombia’s FARC guerillas. On Friday, Spanish prosecutors sought five suspected ETA members for allegedly conspiring with the FARC to assassinate Colombians in Europe. Convicted ETA member Iňaki de Juana Chaos is fighting extradition to Spain; he was previously convicted by a Colombian court for training FARC rebels.

Image- AP
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Guardian UK, BBC News, csmonitor.com, CFR, AFP, Times Online