French police arrest ETA suspects

Al Goodman
CNN Madrid Bureau Chief

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- French police arrested the suspected logistics chief of the Basque separatist group ETA and two of his accomplices Thursday, raising to 22 the number of ETA suspects detained in France and Spain since last month, when ETA ended its cease-fire, Spain's Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The latest three ETA suspects -- two men and a woman -- were arrested in Rodhes, near Toulouse in southern France, the traditional rear-guard area of ETA, which is fighting for Basque independence.

The suspected logistics chief was identified as Juan Cruz Maiza Artola, 56, considerably older than most ETA operatives detained by police.

The other two suspects arrested were Iker Iparraguirre Galarraga, 29, and the woman, Galder Bihotz Cornago Arnaez, 31, the ministry statement said.

Spanish media reports said Maiza is suspected of playing a key logistics role in ETA since 2002.

ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths in the past three decades. It is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

ETA last June 5 announced the end of its cease-fire. That cease-fire began in March 2006 with ETA's pledge that it would be "permanent," but Spain's government considered it broken since last December, when an ETA car bomb at Madrid's airport killed two people.

The arrests on Thursday followed by a day the French arrest of another ETA suspect, Pablo Aperribay Bediaga. He is suspected of hiding yet another ETA fugitive who in 1995 was involved in a failed plot to kill Spain's King Juan Carlos.

On Wednesday, two small bombs attributed to ETA exploded in Spain along the route of the Tour de France, which was passing through northern Navarra province. They caused no injuries or damage and Spain's Interior Ministry said the cyclists and the accompanying Tour vehicles were never in danger.

A man who said he represented ETA called Spanish authorities to warn of the bombs before they exploded, the ministry said.

But in recent weeks, those were the only explosions heard from ETA. The police in Spain and France seem to have the upper hand recently in the long fight with ETA. In addition to the arrests of 22 ETA suspects, including the three on Thursday, police have also seized large quantities of explosives that they said were being readied for ETA bombings. E-mail to a friend

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