Eta suspects arrested in Spain

Three suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group, Eta, were arrested by police in northern Spain today, authorities said.

Basque police arrested the three men in Urkiola in the northern Basque region, police spokesman Juan Jose Esteban said. Two of them, who were carrying pistols, had been sought by authorities since September 2003 in connection with an ambush in which two police officers were wounded, he said.

Two of the suspects were identified as Josune Ona Ispizua, 28, and Asier Mardones, 26. The third had yet to be identified.

Mr Esteban said police were also investigating if those arrested were linked to other Eta attacks.

Eta has been fighting since the late 1960s to carve an independent Basque homeland out of a region straddling northern Spain and south west France. It has claimed responsibility for more than 800 killings.