Spanish police arrest Eta suspect

Zubiarre has been wanted by Spanish police since March

A suspected member of Basque separatist group Eta has been detained in northern Spain, the interior ministry says.

Aritz Arginzoniz Zubiarre was arrested at a bus station in the coastal city of Santander, officials report.

Police said he had aroused suspicion because of a backpack he was carrying, which was later found to contain a gun, a timer and forged identity papers.

Eta has waged a violent campaign since the 1960s for an independent state in northern Spain and south-west France.

In a statement, the interior ministry said that after officers apprehended Mr Zubiarre, he admitted that he was a member of Eta.

Mr Zubiarre had been wanted by the Spanish authorities since March, when they discovered explosives and detonators in raids in the Basque region after the arrest of eight suspected Eta members.

Extradition

Also on Tuesday, French authorities extradited two women to Spain, where they were wanted for murder, kidnapping, possession of explosives and belonging to an armed group.

Maria del Rosario Delgado Iriondo, 48, worked with Eta in Madrid, while Dolores Lopez Resina, 56, was with Eta in Barcelona, the Spanish government said.

Ms Delgado Iriondo was arrested in France in 2000 for alleged forgery.

Ms Lopez Resina, arrested the following year, was among four people convicted in October 2005 in France for the 2001 theft of about 1.6 tonnes of explosives in the Isere region, and among 14 people sentenced in 2006 for extortion, theft and weapons possession.