Spanish police defuse car bomb

MADRID, Spain -- A car bomb packed with 100 kg (220 pounds) of explosives has been defused by Spanish police.

Telephone warnings had been received from callers claiming to be members of Basque separatist group ETA.

The bomb was left in a car stolen from France and parked near a hotel and a train station in Seville.

Around 100 guests at the hotel were evacuated after the warnings were received in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"After a long night, police this morning were able to deactivate the bomb, which contained approximately 100 kg of dynamite in total in two cooking pots," Jose Torres Hurtado, the central government delegate in Seville, told state radio.

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"We have avoided a major attack."

Railway traffic to and from the Santa Justa station was halted for half an hour as a precaution.

ETA is blamed for 23 killings this year and around 800 since 1968 in its campaign for an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwestern France.

Police suspect the latest attack was carried out by guerrillas on a one-off mission rather than by a team established in the city, state radio said.

The bomb was planted near an apartment where ETA stored bombs two years ago, state radio said.

Also on Sunday, a series of minor explosions went off in the Basque region, damaging a local office of the Socialist party, a courthouse, a telephone company office, a car dealership and a construction's company's office building, Basque police said.

No one was hurt in the attacks.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Spanish government (in Spanish)

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