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ETA suspects arrested in France

From CNN Bureau Chief Al Goodman

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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- French police arrested two suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA, just hours after Spain detained eight ETA suspects, a Spanish Interior Ministry spokesman told CNN.

In southern France early Thursday, the two suspects tried to avoid a pre-dawn traffic control point set up by police. They fled but were caught a short time later. One had a gun, the spokesman said.

In Spain, the eight suspects were arrested in the northern Basque provinces Wednesday, not far from the French border, in what police said was a blow to ETA's "infrastructure."

Authorities insisted the arrests in Spain and France were not related, despite their close coincidence in time.

A senior Interior Ministry official, Antonio Camacho, said Thursday that Spanish police remain on maximum alert against possible ETA attacks. But he added that the initial analysis of material seized Wednesday in the Spanish Basque provinces of Guipuzcoa, Alava and Navarra, did not indicate any specific targets for imminent attacks, the Interior Ministry spokesman said.

In the raids, Spanish police also seized materials and a detonator that could be used for making explosives, CNN partner station CNN Plus reported.

The Basque regional government official in charge of security, Javier Balza, also said on Thursday that authorities, including the Basque regional police force, remain on maximum alert against possible ETA attacks.

The arrests in France and Spain were the largest roundup of ETA suspects this year, and came nearly three months after an ETA car bomb at Madrid's airport 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 violence had not killed anyone since 2003 until the airport car bombing.

After that, the government 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.

The arrests came as the Spanish Socialist government finds itself 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.

A total of 21 ETA suspects have been detained so far this year -- 10 in Spain and 11 in France, including the latest arrests, 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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