A man supposed to head commando units for the Basque separatist group ETA was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison by a French court Wednesday.
Ibon Fernandez de Iradi was found guilty of trying to kill a French police officer on patrol in the city of Pau in November 2001. The gendarme, Gerard Larroude, survived despite eight bullet wounds in the head and throat.
Spain's then interior minister, Angel Acebes, described the capture as ''a far-reaching operation of enormous importance.'' He described Fernandez de Iradi as ''the chief of the gunmen, the killers, the commandos who finish up the attacks, the car bombs.''
ETA, which stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom, has been fighting to create an independent state for Basques in northern Spain and southwestern France since the late 1960s. Its bombs and shootings have claimed more than 800 lives.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment