News

A member of the armed Basque group ETA arrested on Monday in France was a top member of the group and had been in charge of relaying instructions to political activists, Spain''s Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told a news conference in Madrid.

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 the outlawed Basque nationalist party Batasuna in the Basque Country last week.

"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 Rubalcaba, using a Basque language name for the pro-independence activists grouped in Batasuna.

The two suspected ETA members, who were armed, were loading a car when they were arrested by French anti-terrorism police.

Monday''s arrests follow a series of blows against ETA in France after arrests and major arms seizures during the summer.

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.