Argentina arrests ex-member of Italy's Red Brigades

A former member of Italian Marxist-Leninist armed group the Red Brigades was arrested in Argentina on Thursday, authorities in Rome and Buenos Aires said.

Leonardo Bertulazzi was detained after authorities in Argentina revoked the refugee status he had obtained in the country in 2004 and following a fresh extradition request, Italian police said in a statement.

Argentina's Security Ministry said in a statement that Bertulazzi "was arrested in the city of Buenos Aires" in a joint operation involving its Federal Police force and Italy's police attaché.

"Bertulazzi, who was in Argentina under a refugee resolution granted by the National Commission for Refugees (CONARE), was located and arrested after the resolution was lifted by the authorities of the national government," the document read.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni released a statement where she expressed her "deep gratitude to the Argentinian authorities" for the arrest.

Bertulazzi, who is in his 70s, is the target of an international arrest warrant for homicide, attacks and illegal confinement. He belonged to the Red Brigades' "March 28" Genoa section which notably kidnapped and held a shipowner.

He was sentenced to a cumulative total of 27 years in prison in 1987 for joining a subversive association and belonging to an armed group. 

Argentina first arrested him in 2002 in Buenos Aires but he was freed a few months later.

Founded in 1973 by Italian Renato Curcio, the Red Brigades wounded or killed dozens of judges, politicians, journalists and industry executives during the 1970s.

– TIMES/AFP