ETA leader among 3 held in France

THE leader of the armed Basque group ETA was arrested in France yesterday, officials said, in another setback for the separatists, who have seen five of their commanders taken into custody in the last two years.

ETA chief Ibon Gogeascoechea and two other separatist suspects were arrested in a joint French- Spanish police operation in Cahan village, France, after a long surveillance operation on a cottage rented using false identity papers, Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba said.

“We understand one of those detained is the maximum leader of ETA at this moment,” he said.