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| France holds Eta 'military chief' | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| A man described as the military leader of the Basque separatist group Eta has been captured in south-western France, Spanish government sources say. | |
| Jurdan Martitegi was reportedly detained with two other suspected Eta members near Perpignan in a joint Franco-Spanish security operation. | |
| French police would only say that three Eta suspects had been detained. | |
| The news comes just over a week since the arrest in Paris of another top Eta suspect, Ekaitz Sirvent Auzmendi. | The news comes just over a week since the arrest in Paris of another top Eta suspect, Ekaitz Sirvent Auzmendi. |
| If his arrest is confirmed, Mr Martitegi would be the third suspected Eta military chief to be detained by the French security forces in the past five months. | |
| Eta is blamed for the deaths of more than 820 people in its 40-year campaign for an independent Basque nation. | Eta is blamed for the deaths of more than 820 people in its 40-year campaign for an independent Basque nation. |
| Arrest after arrest | |
| The three men arrested on Saturday were armed with three pistols and had a car with false number plates, Spanish media report. | |
| A suspected woman member of Eta was also arrested in France this week | |
| French police say they were picked up in Montauriol, in the eastern Pyrenees region which borders Spain. | |
| Mr Martitegi is alleged to have assumed the military command of Eta since the arrest in December of Aitzol Irionda, also in south-west France. | |
| Mr Irionda himself had allegedly just taken over the military command from Mikel Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, also known as Txeroki, after the latter's arrest in France in October. | |
| Once regarded as a safe haven for Basque militants, France began arresting Eta suspects after the group called off a 15-month-old ceasefire in June 2007. | |
| A suspected woman member of Eta, Itxaso Legorburu Madinabeitia, was arrested in the central French town of Mezieres-en-Brenne on Thursday. | |
| Another suspected member with her managed to escape. | |
| The two had reported been inside a gun shop when they aroused suspicion and police were called. |