/europe
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Police have arrested two suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA in southern France as they were riding bicycles, CNN partner station CNN+ reported.
Each suspect had a handgun, and they also carried documentation that indicated they could be members of ETA, which is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its long fight for Basque independence, the network reported on Wednesday.
The arrests occurred near the French town of Tarascon-sur-Ariege. The identities of the two suspects were not immediately known, CNN+ reported, citing police sources.
ETA -- listed as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States -- typically uses France as a rearguard staging and logistics area for attacks across the border in Spain.
Authorities say ETA was responsible for a car bomb that injured 27 people October 30 at the University of Navarra, in Pamplona, Spain.
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 airport in December of that year killed two men and caused heavy damage. Although the Socialist government immediately ended the fledgling peace process, ETA did not officially end its cease-fire until June 2007.
There are about 600 ETA convicts or suspects in Spanish jails and 150 others in French jails, authorities in the two countries have told CNN.
CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman contributed to this report.
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