French police hold ETA leader

FRENCH police have arrested a suspected military commander of the armed Basque separatist group ETA who escaped from custody in France almost a year ago.

Ibon Fernandez Iradi was arrested in the south-western town of Mont-de -Marsan with two more suspected ETA members, a police spokesman said. Police were still trying to establish the identity of the other man and woman detained, he added.

Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes hailed the arrests as a blow to ETA.