Venezuela holds ETA suspect wanted by Spain

25 Apr 2003 21:08:59 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 25 (Reuters) - A man wanted in Spain for allegedly carrying out a 1979 attack for the Basque separatist group ETA has surrendered to Venezuelan authorities, the government said on Friday.

Luis Maria Olalde, one of six suspected ETA members in Venezuela whose extradition was sought by Madrid, gave himself up to local prosecutors Wednesday. Venezuela's Supreme Court must decide whether the extradition request should be granted.

Olalde, 46, went into exile in the South American nation at the end of the 1980s with other Basque separatists as part of an agreement between the Spanish and Venezuelan presidents at the time, Felipe Gonzalez and Carlos Andres Perez.

Olalde is sought by Spanish police in connection with a 1979 attack against a Civil Guard vehicle.

Following an extradition request last year from Spain to President Hugo Chavez's government, Venezuelan authorities ordered the arrest of Olalde and the five other ETA suspects.

An ETA guerrilla campaign since 1968 to press demands for an independent Basque state in Spain has killed more than 830 people.