8 Jul 2011

Suspected Spanish plotter arrested in UK

1:08 pm on 8 July 2011

A man accused of attempting to assassinate the Spanish King in 1997 has been arrested in Cambridge, England, in a joint operation between British and Spanish police.

Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui, 44, was remanded in custody after appearing at an extradition hearing.

The BBC reports he was arrested under a European arrest warrant in a raid at about 9am on Thursday.

He is suspected of "participation in an armed gang, attempted assassination of the king, terrorism resulting in death, possession of weapons, theft and forgery", according to the warrant.

The Spanish interior ministry said he was a member of an ETA group which plotted to kill King Juan Carlos by throwing grenades at him as he attended the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in October 1997.

The plot was uncovered a day before the king arrived and no explosives were detonated.