French authorities have detained one of the most sought-after members of the Basque separatist group ETA, believed to have ties with the FARC guerrilla organization, international media reported Friday.
Suspected ETA member Iñaki Dominguez Atxalandabaso was arrested Thursday on the outskirts of Paris while taking a train into the French capital city from Milan, Italy, while carrying false documentation and other possibly incriminating documents that are currently being analyzed by investigators.
The 36-year-old native of Guernica, in northern Spain, is ranked as one of Spanish authorities’ most-wanted terrorists, and had an international warrant for his arrest at the time of his detention.
Prior to his arrest, Atxalandabaso was charged in March 2010 by Spanish judge Eloy Velasco for allegedly collaborating with Colombia’s FARC to plan bomb attacks against high Colombian officials in Spain, including former presidents Alvaro Uribe and Andres Pastrana.
International arrest warrants were issued for twelve defendants in the case — six from ETA and seven from the FARC — with conspiracy to commit terrorist homicide. ETA is considered a terrorist organization by Europe and the United States.