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Spain arrests Basque ETA suspects

From CNN Bureau Chief Al Goodman

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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Police have arrested eight suspected members or collaborators of the Basque separatist group ETA in northern Spain, a Spanish Interior Ministry spokesman says.

The arrests on Wednesday were aimed at disrupting ETA's "infrastructure" in Spain's Basque provinces, and was the largest roundup this year of suspects, the spokesman told CNN.

The arrests come nearly three months after an ETA car bomb at Madrid's airport last December 30 killed two people and blew apart a fledgling peace process.

March 22 marked the first anniversary of ETA's announcement of a unilateral, "permanent" cease-fire, which had raised hopes for an end to nearly 40 years of ETA violence blamed for more than 800 deaths.

ETA had not killed anyone since 2003 until December 30, when a bomb erupted at Madrid's airport, killing two people and heavily damaging a parking garage and terminal building.

The government then announced that it considered the peace process finished, although ETA later issued a statement saying its cease-fire was still in force.

ETA wants Basque independence and is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.

Wednesday's arrests come as the Socialist government has been under intense pressure from the opposition conservative Popular Party, which accuses the government of being soft on ETA.

This month, after the government allowed an ETA convict serving a sentence for making terrorist threats to serve the remainder of his term under house arrest, the conservatives organized demonstrations that drew hundreds of thousands of people.

Authorities say that ETA's outlawed political wing, the Batasuna Party, may be behind efforts to start a new political party seeking to run pro-Basque independence candidates in May's municipal elections.

The party filed an application Tuesday with the Interior Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry said the potential new party, called ASB, had apparent links to Batasuna. It sent the matter to prosecutors to determine whether the proposed party should be outlawed for links to ETA.

Wednesday's arrests followed arrests two weeks ago of three ETA suspects in southern France.

A total of 19 ETA suspects have been detained this year, including 10 in Spain (the eight on Wednesday and two others earlier) and nine in France, the Spanish Interior Ministry said.

About 500 ETA operatives -- including convicts or suspects awaiting trial -- are in Spanish jails and an estimated 100 more are in French jails, authorities have recently told CNN.

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