Spanish Leader A Target In Death Squad Probe

An investigation into anti-Basque death squads moved closer to the government of Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez on Friday when the judge heading the probe ordered Spain’s former intelligence chief not to leave the country.

In confidential court documents leaked to the Spanish media, Judge Baltasar Garzon said his investigation pointed to Gen. Emilio Alonso Manglano, who also headed covert operations, as a chief organizer of the groups.

Manglano, who resigned last June as head of the civilian intelligence agency, appeared before the judge after his one-time aide, Col. Juan Alberto Perote, who ran the agency’s operations unit.

The shadowy Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups, or GAL, killed more than 26 alleged members or supporters of the armed Basque separatist group ETA between 1983 and 1987.