Death of ETA leader in 1970s will remain a mystery

The death of ETA ideologist Eduardo Moreno Bergareche, better known as "Pertur," will continue to be a mystery after the High Court decided to shelve the investigation into his disappearance on July 23, 1976.

The court opened the inquiry in 2008 on the request of Pertur's relatives, who wanted to know whether he was killed by ETA hardliners -- he proposed dropping violence and using democratic channels to pursue their separatist goals -- or by Italian neo-Fascists working for the Spanish police, in what would have been another episode of the former dirty war against the Basque terrorist group.

After questioning ETA sympathizers and former ETA leader Francisco Mujika Garmendia, "Pakito," who was with Pertur on the day of his disappearance, the court ruled that there is not enough evidence to charge specific individuals.

Judge Fernando Andreu, however, noted the major ideological discrepancies between Pertur and the bereziak (special) commandos who were in charge of carrying out ETA's bloody attacks at the time. This was so much so that at one point the bereziak kidnapped Pertur to ensure he would not attend a group meeting.

The ruling also recalls that a far-right group called Alianza Apostólica Anticomunista de España took credit for Pertur's death on July 31, 1976 and said that he was buried in a village in the region of Navarre.