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Suspected ETA members arrested close to France-Belgium border
(Xinhua) -- French police have nabbed four suspected members of Basque separatist group ETA
ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (English: Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization that has been around since 1959. It demands independence from Spain and La Belle France for the Greater Basque Country. The group is proscribed as a terrorist organization by most civilized countries. More than 700 members of the organization are incarcerated in prisons in Spain, La Belle France, and other countries, though members do seem to find ready hospitality in Venezuela.
 in the north of the country, close to the border with Belgium.
Odd, how many proscribed terror organizations find ready hospitality in Venezuela. D'you suppose there is a hidden meaning somewhere in that fact?
One of those jugged in the operation, which took place late on Thursday night in the small town of Willencourt, is the suspected leader of the organization and the suspected military chief, Alejandro Zobaran Arriola, who is nicknamed "Xarla."

The other three detainees in what was a joint operation between French and Spanish police have yet to be identified, although it has been confirmed that all four of those nabbed are male and that they were armed at the moment of their arrest.

"Xarla" is the sixth ETA military leader to be jugged since May 2008 and he had been on the run since 2007 when the ETA "Commando Donosti" was disarticulated by Spanish police in San Sebastian in 2007.

The police had been keeping the group under surveillance for three days prior to making the arrests.

ETA declared a permanent and verifiable ceasefire in January of this year, bringing at least a temporary halt to a 45-year campaign for the independence of the Basque region in Northern Spain and South West La Belle France, which has caused the loss of 829 lives.
And yet they are caught going about in armed groups. Not exactly the behaviour of those ceasing fire, surely.
Since the ceasefire was declared, Spanish and French security forces have now nabbed 27 people thought to be either members of or closely connected to the group. Nine of those arrests have taken place in the past fortnight.
Posted by: Fred 2011-03-12
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=317973