France, Spain to redouble anti-ETA fight after cop slaying (Roundup)

Mar 17, 2010, 17:07 GMT

Paris/Madrid - The killing of a French policeman late Tuesday by the Basque militant group ETA will intensify the cooperation between France and Spain in the fight against the group, Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said Wednesday.

'The murder of the police officer will lead the security forces in France and Spain to broaden their cooperation even more in the fight against ETA terrorism,' Perez Rubalcaba said.

A man arrested shortly after the killing of the French police officer near Paris has admitted being a member of ETA, French media reported.

Citing judicial sources, the online edition of the weekly Le Point said that at least five other people, including one woman, were being sought in the murder, the first-ever killing of a French law enforcement official by the separatist group.

The dead policeman was identified as a 52-year-old father of four and a 30-year veteran of the police force.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero paid tribute to the victim by saying Wednesday in Madrid, 'France has paid a high price for its support of the fight against ETA terrorism in Spain.'

According to the sources, the incident began when a police patrol noticed four people filling four cars with petrol on a dirt road some 50 kilometres south of the capital.

The police officers accosted and disarmed the four when two more cars arrived on the scene, igniting a shootout. The police officer died shortly after being hit by a bullet from a. 357 Magnum handgun.

Police said the dead officer was wearing a bullet-proof vest, but the bullet struck him in the armpit, which the vest does not cover.

Shortly after the incident, French police arrested a suspect in the shooting. He was identified as 27-year-old Joseba Fernandez Aspurz, alias El Guindi, who is wanted in Spain on several charges of arson.

The six cars were reportedly stolen earlier Tuesday from a used- car lot.

French police and ETA have had numerous run-ins over the years, since members of the group often hide out and store their munitions on French territory.

In June 2009, two ETA members shot and wounded a gendarme as he approached them in their car. In November 2001, another gendarme was gravely wounded by ETA gunfire when he attempted to subject the driver of a minivan to a blood-alcohol test.