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Leader of ETA’s political operation arrested in France

19 October 2009 16:30 (UTC +04:00)

He and the other terrorist suspect who was with him were both armed when they were arrested

The man believed to have taken over the top position in the ETA terrorist organisationâ€™s political operation last year, Aitor ElizarÃ¡n Aguilar, is under custody in France following his arrest in Carnac, Brittany, this Monday morning. He was with another ETA suspect named as Oihana San Vicente Saez de Cerain, travelling in a car previously stolen from the Maine et Loire area of west-central France.

San Vicente is on the list in Spain of the most wanted terrorists and is also believed to be part of ETAâ€™s political structure.

Both were armed when they were taken into custody as part of a joint investigation by French and Spanish police.

ElizarÃ¡n is considered by the Interior Ministry as ETAâ€™s contact with Batasuna, the terrorist organisationâ€™s outlawed political wing, but also has close links to the terroristsâ€™ military operation. His father, Justo ElizarÃ¡n, PÃºblico reports, was also an ETA leader and was murdered by a far right organisation in 1979.

Aitor ElizarÃ¡n is a former leader of the Segi pro-ETA youth organisation and is understood to have fled to France some years ago. He is reported to have been responsible, since he became part of ETA leadership last year, for passing on the terrorist organisationâ€™s instructions to the â€˜abertzaleâ€™ radical left.

His arrest comes after ten people accused of trying to reconstruct ETAâ€™s outlawed political wing, Batasuna, were arrested in the Basque Country and Navarra a week ago. Five of the suspects, including Batasunaâ€™s ex spokesman, Arnaldo Otegi, were later ordered to remand by National Court judge, Baltasar GarzÃ³n.

These latest two arrests bring the number of ETA suspects arrested in France in the past 10 days up to 5.