ETA chief Benat Atorrasagasti Ordonez’s decade of living as a fugitive came to an abrupt end when police raided his rented flat in Leith, ­Edinburgh.

ONE of the world’s most wanted terrorists escaped an international manhunt … by working as a van driver in Livingston.

But ETA chief Benat Atorrasagasti Ordonez’s decade of living as a fugitive came to an abrupt end when police raided his rented flat in Leith, ­Edinburgh.

Brazen Atorrasagasti had been ­living there under a fake name with his wife and their children, while working for a courier firm in West Lothian.

The 36-year-old terror chief, of San Sebastian, in the Basque region of Spain, will appear in court in Edinburgh tomorrow and is expected to be extradited for trial in Europe.

Spanish authorities say he was living in Scotland as a “sleeper” – lying low while waiting for orders from the Basque terror group’s high command.

He is wanted in both France and Spain and last night it was still unclear which of the two countries he would be returned to.

Atorrasagasti went on the run in 2001 after the Spanish Civil Guard smashed the terror cell he had been working with.

Alicante terror blast

He has been on Spain’s most wanted list since 2008 and is thought to have helped at least 10 gunmen cross the border between France and Spain.

Spanish TV yesterday reported that he had been held after an armed raid at 10pm on Friday but Scottish police denied any of the officers involved were carrying guns.

They continued to search his home into the early hours of yesterday.

A woman who was with Atorrasagasti was also arrested.

She refused to give her name to police and was later released.

Lothian and Borders Police said: “A 36-year-old man has been arrested in Edinburgh on two European arrest warrants in connection with historical crimes committed in Spain and France.

“The man will appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday under the terms of the Extradition Act.”

It is understood the police operation had input from Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorist squad and elite special branch detectives.

A judge and prosecutors at the National Court in Madrid, who specialise in terror cases, made a formal written request to British authorities to arrest Atorrasagasti.

The Interior Ministry said he had been living with his family in the property in Leith “for some time”.

They added: “Everything suggests he was part of ETA’s reserve apparatus, groups formed by fugitives who are prepared to form active cells when the terror leadership decides.

“He joined ETA in 1996 as a member of their transport command, with the mission of helping ETA personnel and material cross the border between France and Spain.

“This group were dismantled in 2001 in a Civil Guard counter-terrorist operation but he managed to flee.

“After escaping to France in 2001, he joined the clandestine ETA terrorist structures there.

“His fingerprints have been found in several seizures of terrorist material there.

“Because of that, in 2008, he was sentenced in his absence to five years in prison by a court in Paris.”

Attack in Santander

Atorrasagasti, who is the tenth ETA suspect held in the UK since 2007, was linked to one of ETA’s most infamous murders. He is said to have helped two assassins flee to France after the cold-blooded execution of politician Miguel Angel Blanco in 1997.

Blanco, 29, was kidnapped and held hostage for three days before being shot twice in the head, despite massive public demonstrations around Spain calling for his release.

The murder horrified Spain and on Friday thousands turned out in 40 cities across the country to mark the 15th anniversary of his death.

Anti-terrorism experts say Britain became a favourite bolthole for ETA after France began co-operating with Spain to track down fugitives living there.

Just last month, police captured Antonio Troitino, one of the terror group’s most prolific killers, at a flat in west London.

The 55-year-old has been convicted of 22 murders, including a car bomb attack which killed five police officers in Madrid in 1986.

ETA explosives expert Ignacio Lerin, 38, was held in the same raid.

Spanish intelligence sources say there are around 180 ETA terrorists on the run.

The organisation have killed more than 800 people since they launched their campaign for an independent Basque state in the late 1960s.

In January last year, they announced a “permanent ceasefire” following more than 40 years of bloodshed.

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