One of the top members of Basque guerrilla group Eta, who had been in charge of relaying instructions from the rebels to political activists, was arrested today in France, Spanish and French officials said.
Aitor Elizaran and another suspected ETA member, Oihana San Vicente, were picked up at a car park in the Breton town of Carnac, on the northwestern coast, French police said.
The arrests were linked to the detention of six senior members of Eta's banned political wing Batasuna in Spain last week, Spain's Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told a news conference in Madrid.
"Aitor Elizaran has been arrested and, according to information of the Civil Guard, he was the head of Eta's political section, a member of their ruling council and the man in charge of sending instructions to the Abertzale Left," said Mr Rubalcaba, using a Basque language name for the pro-independence radicals grouped in Batasuna.
The two suspected guerrillas, who were armed, were loading a car when they were arrested by French anti-terrorism police.
Today's arrests follow a series of blows against Eta in France after arrests and major arms seizures during the summer.
Eta, whose name Euskadi ta Askatasuna means Basque Homeland and Freedom, was founded 50 years ago during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and has killed more than 800 people in its campaign for an independent Basque Country.
Security forces believe it has been substantially weakened by hundreds of arrests in recent years in France and Spain but that it is still capable of inflicting considerable damage.
Most Basques favour some sort of independence from Spain, although only a minority sympathise with violent separatists, polls have shown.
Reuters