Eta leader swaps place with brother to escape

An accused Basque terror leader escaped from a high-security Paris prison by switching places with his brother during visiting hours.

The switch at the Sante prison took place on Saturday but was only discovered today, prison officials said.

Ismael Berasategui Escudero, a suspected member of the Basque separatist movement Eta, had been arrested in southern France in May.

At the time, Spain said he was a leader of an Eta cell and had been on the run since it was broken up last December.

Eta has claimed responsibility for more than 800 deaths as part of a 34 year drive to carve an independent Basque homeland out of territory straddling northern Spain and southwest France.