Catalan regional chief calls for Puigdemont's immediate release

BARCELONA - Catalonia's regional chief Pere Aragones called for the immediate release of his predecessor Carles Puigdemont, who was detained by Italian police on Thursday evening, and asked the Spanish government to withdraw the arrest warrant against him.

Aragones told reporters on Friday he would travel to Sardinia, where Puigdemont is in police custody, to support the separatist leader wanted by Spain on charges of sedition for his role in the region's failed 2017 independence bid.