Spain arrests seven ETA suspects

Spain wants to step up its campaign against ETA's violence

Spanish police have arrested seven suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA, including some believed to have killed a socialist politician and his bodyguard last year.

In overnight raids in and around the Basque town of San Sebastian, police also seized explosives, machine guns and bombs.

The arrests come as the Spanish Government lobbies its European partners to have ETA categorised as a terrorist organisation.

Spain wants the EU to opt for a broad definition of terrorism to allow it to freeze ETA's assets and crack down on the organisations which support it.

Arsenal seized

The Spanish news agency, Efe, quoted police sources as saying that Roberto Lebrero Panizo and Koldo Ruiz Marinelarena were among those arrested.

Support for the campaign against ETA has increased since 11 September

They are wanted in connection with the car bombing which killed socialist politician Fernando Buyesa and his bodyguard in February 2000.

Police also confiscated 60kg of explosives, limpet bombs, automatic rifles and handguns in the raids which the interior ministry said had succeeded in dismantling a command cell.

The arrests follow successful operations in August and September during which the government detained a total of 19 suspected ETA members - including the alleged head of logisitics.

The BBC's Flora Botsford in Madrid says the spate of arrests seems to be the result of improved co-operation between Spain's different security forces and between Spain and France.

However, a warning about a car bomb attack in Madrid on Friday received by the national police was not passed on to the municipal force.

Thirty-five people are thought to have been killed in ETA attacks since the group suspended its 14-month ceasefire in December 1999.

Terrorism definition

The Spanish Government believes that support for its fight against the group has increased in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the United States.

Prime Minister Aznar wants ETA included on a list of terrorist groups

It now hopes that the current Europe-wide discussions on a joint offensive against terrorism will help it to implement new measures against ETA.

A list of 27 terrorist groups released by the US state department did not include the Basque separatists.

Spain has now been attempting to persuade its EU partners to opt for a broader definition of terrorism.

It wants a list of terrorist groups to include organisations such as ETA or the IRA, allowing governments to freeze their assets and bank accounts.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said he also hoped to include groups which provided ETA with logistical, political or media support.

This could hit ETA's political wing, Batasuna - a legal political party which holds seven seats in the Basque parliament.