Car Crash Kills Reputed Basque Military Leader
Domingo Iturbe Abasolo, reputed military leader of the Basque separatist organization ETA, has been killed in a traffic accident, Algeria’s official news agency reported Monday.
Algerie Presse Service said Iturbe, 43, who was also known by his Basque name Txomin, died Friday near Ghardaia, about 290 miles south of Algiers.
The driver also was killed, but two other passengers escaped injury, the agency said. It gave no other details.
ETA is fighting for an independent homeland in northern Spain.
Iturbe lived in exile in France until last July, when the French government deported him to the African nation of Gabon. He later moved to Algeria.
Iturbe was the first of 42 alleged ETA members expelled by French Premier Jacques Chirac’s government under an emergency decree aimed at suspected terrorists.
ETA, which stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom in the Basque language, has claimed responsibility for killing more than 500 people in its campaign.
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