French police arrest ETA suspect wanted by Spain

French police arrested a suspected member of the Basque separatist group ETA in the southwestern town of Bayonne yesterday, a police source and a Basque organisation said.

Xabier Perez Susperregi, 45, was arrested after taking his son to school, said Askatasuna, an association for the defence of Basque political prisoners. Spain had issued a European warrant for his arrest for his suspected links with ETA.

Perez Susperregi was previously arrested in France in 1991 as part of an operation to break up an ETA unit, but was cleared at a trial in 1993.

ETA, condemned as a terrorist organisation by Spain and the European Union, has fought for almost four decades for a state carved out of northern Spain and south-west France.

ETA members traditionally fled to France but French and Spanish police have recently increased cooperation and dozens of suspects, including some alleged leaders, have been arrested in France.