ETA leader “Txeroki” arrested in France; EU peace process called for

In a joint operation by French and Spanish police, Miguel de Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina AKA “Txeroki” (Cherokee)—Spain’s most wanted terror suspect and purported military head of ETA—was arrested Nov. 16 in the resort town of Cauterets in the French Pyrenees, along with another ETA suspect and a woman. Txeroki, 36, reputedly masterminding a series of deadly attacks including the murder of a judge, a plot to kill King Juan Carlos and a bomb attack on the Socialist politician Eduardo Madina.

The leaders of both France and Spain hailed the arrest as a significant blow to the separatist group. “Today ETA is weaker and Spanish democracy is stronger,” said Spanish Prime Minister JosĂ© Luis RodrÍguez Zapatero. “It has not lost its ability to attack all citizens. It has not lost its ability to cause pain. But with this arrest it has suffered a severe blow.”

“This arrest shows once again the strong commitment of the French police and gendarmerie and the excellent cooperation between France and Spain in the fight against Basque terrorism,” said French President Sarkozy, who announced an extraordinary summit on cross-border terrorism with Zapatero.

Txeroki is also believed to have shot dead two undercover Spanish police officers at Capbreton in southern France last December, and is said to have organized the bomb attack on Barajas airport in Madrid in December 2006, which killed two Ecuadorans. His capture arrest is the biggest blow to ETA since the May arrest in Bordeaux of ETA’s presumed leader Javier LĂłpez Peña, effectively “decapitating” the organisation. (London Times, Melbourne Herald Sun, Nov. 18)

Despite claims of a “massive blow” to the ETA, the London Times recalls in its coverage the similar claims that were made after the April 1973 death in a gunfight with Spanish police near Bilbao of the ETA’s then-military leader Eustaquio Txikia MendizĂĄbal.

Days earlier, Sinn FĂ©in MEP Bairbre de BrĂșn issued a call for the European Union to encourage a peace process in the Basque Country. Speaking at a conference on Conflict Resolution in the in the European Parliament in Brussels, de BrĂșn said: “As the US, the EU and others helped the Irish peace process, so too there is an important role for the international community in encouraging a peace process in the Basque country.” (Sinn FĂ©in, Nov. 11)

See our last posts on the Spain, France and the Basque struggle.

  1. One more basque terrorist aprehended
    The arrest of Txeroki(Cherokee)Might be a blow to ETA but in no way signal the death of the Organization.
    After the Spanish State prohibited the celebration of a non-binding consultation to the people of the Basque Autonomous Community this year.
    Consultation democratically proposed by the Basque Parliament that asqued the citizenship their opinion over the state of future relations among the Community and the State and had nothing to do with ETA i might add.
    If the Basque People are prohibited for participating in giving their opinions regarding this, the most light of proposals.
    I am afraid that all adds more oil to the fire.