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'ETA shooting' kills second cop

  • Story Highlights
  • ETA believed behind deaths of two Spanish civil guards in southern France
  • First fatalities blamed on the Spanish separatist group in nearly a year
  • Officers were in Capbreton to meet French police about operations against ETA
  • French police arrest male, female suspects allegedly linked to attack
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From CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A second member of the Spanish Civil Guard who had been in a coma since being shot in the head Saturday -- allegedly by members of the Basque separatist group ETA -- died Wednesday, a Spanish Interior Ministry spokeswoman has told CNN

The officer's death came shortly after French police arrested a man and a woman suspected of taking part in the attack, which also killed his Civil Guard partner, the spokeswoman added.

"It's probable that the two people arrested carried out the attack," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said at a news conference in Naples, where he was attending a Spanish-Italian summit meeting. Zapatero thanked French authorities for moving quickly to make the arrests.

But the Interior Ministry spokeswoman said investigators so far have determined only that the two suspects "are members of ETA, and are presumably implicated in the attack but were not necessarily those who did the shooting."

Fernando Trapero, 23, died Wednesday in hospital in Bayonne, France, where he was taken Saturday after being shot in nearby Capbreton. He and his partner, Raul Centeno -- both in plainclothes and unarmed during an anti-ETA operation in conjunction with French police -- were surprised and shot by ETA, the spokeswoman said.

The two ETA suspects were arrested in a car around 12:20 p.m. (05:20 GMT) in the town of Chateneauf de Randon. The hospitalized Civil Guard died about an hour later, the spokeswoman said.

Investigators say three ETA members took part in the attack Saturday. The two Civil Guards were in a cafe in Capbreton and apparently were recognized by the ETA members, who followed them outside and shot them in the head, the spokeswoman said. Centeno died immediately.

The ETA suspects fled in a car, later leaving it to commandeer a second car. They held that vehicle's driver, a French woman, for some time before releasing her unharmed, authorities said.

Zapatero on Saturday vowed that "those who did this will be arrested and tried, and will pay for this."

The deaths of the Civil Guard members are the first fatalities blamed on ETA in nearly a year. The separatist group claimed responsibility for the December 30, 2006, car bomb at Madrid's airport that killed two men and destroyed a parking garage.

ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its long fight for Basque independence. It is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.

The group has long used France as a rear-guard staging area for attacks in Spain, but it has been many years since ETA was blamed for any deaths in France.

ETA declared a "permanent" cease-fire in March 2006, raising hopes for an end to nearly 40 years of violence, but the car bomb at Madrid's airport last December shattered the fledging peace process. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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