Spanish judge Garzon orders arrest of Basque businessman

Spanish police arrested on Wednesday a Basque businessman over presumed payments to the armed Basque group ETA, Spanish news agency Europa Press said quoting antiterrorist sources.

Jesús Guibert Azkue, 81 years old, was kidnapped last March 21st, 1983 when he was the general manager of the firm Laminados de Hierro Marcial UCIN SA, and was released 17 days later after having presumably paid 150 million ptas.

The arrest, which follows an order of the Spanish High Court judge Baltasar Garzón, is the second arrest of a businessman this week. José Antonio Jainaga, chief executive of the Basque firm Sidenor, was arrested in the Basque city of Bilbao and released after the police took his statement on Tuesday also over presumed extortion payments to ETA.

The presumed payments to ETA were reported in some papers seized last May 21th to Francisco Javier Lopez Peña, Thierry, considered by the police as one of the leaders of the armed band.

Both businessmen could be summoned to appear in court in the next few hours.

The armed group has traditionally financed its operations by trying to extort money from companies, demanding payment of what it calls a "revolutionary tax".