Portugal arrests Venezuela-bound Eta suspect

Portuguese police raided a suspected Eta base near Obidos in February

Portuguese police have arrested a suspected member of the Basque separatist group Eta who was trying to board a flight to Venezuela.

Andoni Zengotitabengoa was stopped at Lisbon airport. Portuguese radio says he had a false Mexican passport.

Officials said he had been living with another Eta suspect near the Portuguese town of Obidos. Explosives were found in a police raid there last month.

Recently a Spanish judge accused Venezuela of supporting Eta militants.

Eta, designated a "terrorist" organisation by the European Union and US, is fighting for a separate Basque homeland in northern Spain. It has been blamed for more than 820 deaths during its 41-year campaign.

Madrid says Venezuela is willing to assist a Spanish investigation into the judge's claims.

The judge, Eloy Velasco, accused Venezuela of aiding Eta and the Colombian rebel group Farc, which he says plotted together to kill Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has dismissed the allegations.

Both Eta and Farc claim to be rooted in left-wing ideology.