Spanish police arrest ETA suspects amid attack claims

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spanish police arrested four suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA early Tuesday, accusing them of forming a terrorist cell that was ready to attack, the Spanish Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Three of the suspects were arrested in or near the city of Pamplona in Spain's northern Navarra region, which has Basque roots and was to be the base for the alleged cell, the statement said.

The fourth suspect was arrested in the city of Valencia on Spain's eastern coast.

Police seized two revolvers and ammunition, various timers that might be used for bombs, detonating cord, items that might be used to make a bomb attached to the underside of vehicles, various substances that might be used to make explosives; and computer documentation, the ministry said.

All four suspects -- three men and a woman -- were born in Pamplona and range in age from 26 to 29, the ministry said.

ETA is blamed for more than 800 killings in its four-decade fight for Basque independence. The European Union and the United States list ETA as a terrorist group.

In March 2006, ETA declared a "permanent" unilateral cease-fire, raising hopes for an end to nearly 40 years of ETA violence.

But an ETA bomb at Madrid's Barjas airport in December 2006 killed two men and caused heavy damage, and the Socialist government immediately ended the fledgling peace process.

ETA officially ended its cease-fire in June 2007.

There are about 600 ETA convicts or suspects in Spanish jails and more than 100 in French jails, authorities said.

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