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The suspected military chief of the Basque separatist group, Eta, has been arrested in southern France, the French interior minister has announced.
Michele Alliot-Marie said Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, alias "Txeroki", was arrested overnight in the Pyrenees.
She said he was suspected of the murder of two Spanish civil guard officers in the French town of Capbreton in 2007.
Eta is blamed for the deaths of more than 820 people in its 40-year campaign for an independent Basque nation.
The group resumed its campaign of violence in June 2007, following the failure of secret dialogue with the Spanish government. Correspondents say Mr Aspiazu Rubina was a key figure in the decision.
The arrest would be the biggest blow to Eta since the detention of its political commander, Javier Lopez Pena, in a joint Spanish-French operation in the French city of Bordeaux in May.
However, the BBC's Steve Kingstone in Madrid says that, in the past, high-profile arrests have always been followed by fresh attacks and Eta is far from defeated.
BBC NEWS | Europe | France holds 'Eta military head'
Michele Alliot-Marie said Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, alias "Txeroki", was arrested overnight in the Pyrenees.
She said he was suspected of the murder of two Spanish civil guard officers in the French town of Capbreton in 2007.
Eta is blamed for the deaths of more than 820 people in its 40-year campaign for an independent Basque nation.
The group resumed its campaign of violence in June 2007, following the failure of secret dialogue with the Spanish government. Correspondents say Mr Aspiazu Rubina was a key figure in the decision.
The arrest would be the biggest blow to Eta since the detention of its political commander, Javier Lopez Pena, in a joint Spanish-French operation in the French city of Bordeaux in May.
However, the BBC's Steve Kingstone in Madrid says that, in the past, high-profile arrests have always been followed by fresh attacks and Eta is far from defeated.
BBC NEWS | Europe | France holds 'Eta military head'
