French police nab Basque chief, four others

PARIS -- Police on Sunday arrested a man reported to be a military leader of the Basque separatist group ETA, according to media reports and an association for Basque political prisoners.

A special police brigade took Asier Oyarzabal Txapartegui and two associates into custody near the town of Dax in the southwestern Landes region, the Committee for Support of Basque Political Prisoners said.

Two other Basque separatists were also apprehended on Sunday by police near Bordeaux, the committee said.