36 arrested over ETA-link youth group

Spanish police arrested 36 suspected members of a youth organisation outlawed for its links to the armed group ETA, officials said today.

The National Police said the arrests were carried out in the northern Basque and Navarra regions in the early hours.

Police said the detainees are suspected of trying to form a new radical group to support ETA. They are believed to be members of Segi, a youth organisation outlawed in 2007.

ETA has killed more than 825 people in its campaign for an independent Basque state straddling northern Spain and south-western France.

Youth groups supporting the banned organisation frequently go on vandalism sprees, attacking government buildings, banks and political party offices.