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Suspected ETA military chief held

From CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman

Gorka Palacios
Gorka Palacios seen in this undated file photo

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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Police in southwestern France Tuesday arrested the suspected top military commander of Basque separatist group ETA and three of his collaborators, in what Spain's interior minister called a "hard blow" against the outlawed group.

The alleged ETA military chief has been identified as Gorka Palacios, 29, said Interior Minister Angel Acebes, at a news conference in Marrakech, Morocco, where he was on an official visit.

"He is the number one of the ETA terrorist organization who directs the commandos and, therefore, gives instructions for the attacks and assassinations," Acebes said at the news conference, which was nationally televised in Spain.

Two of the other ETA suspects detained could be Juan Luis Rubenach and Inigo Vallejo Francia, Acebes said, although positive identification was still pending. Police were still trying to determine the identity of the fourth suspect, using fingerprint checks and other techniques.

The arrests occurred at 6 a.m. in a home in the village of Lons, near the town of Pau in southwestern France, Acebes said.

Weapons and documents were also seized, police have said.

The Basque region straddles the France-Spain border.

ETA is blamed for more than 800 killings in a 35-year fight for Basque independence and is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, of which Spain is a member.

Acebes said that with the four suspects arrested Tuesday formed the current ETA leadership of its commando operational wing to carry out attacks, along with another ETA suspect, Ibon Fernandez, alias Susper, last Thursday.

He said the five arrests were of "great significance" and of "first magnitude" in the fight against ETA, but he also pointedly warned that while the arrests "reduce ETA's operational capacity," the group still has the capability to attack and that no one could be considered safe from attack.

Palacios is wanted in connection with the ETA killings of an army officer in Madrid in January 2000 and with the shooting death of a town councilman in the southern city of Malaga in July 2000, Spain's state-run news agency EFE reported, citing police officials.

Fernandez was arrested late last year but escaped from custody at a French police station. Since then, Spanish police have arrested dozens of other ETA suspects whom they said appeared in documents and computer files maintained by Fernandez.

In the past, he said, police have detained the suspected military leadership of ETA, only to see the group soon after put other operatives in their place to resume the attacks, and Acebes said this could happen again, although he said ETA would not have an easy time replacing the latest suspects arrested.

In addition to the military wing of ETA, there is a higher, even more secretive branch, the so-called "political" wing. The suspected leaders of that branch have long eluded capture.

Carme Chacon, a leader of the main opposition Socialist Party, applauded the cooperation of French police and said that stopping ETA was Spain's "priority battle."

Chacon added that after the latest arrests, "Today, ETA has the capability to kill less than it did yesterday."


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