Discovery of huge arms cache sparks fears of ETA attack in Spain

Apr 13, 2011, 12:12 GMT

Madrid - Concern was growing in Spain on Wednesday that the armed Basque separatist group ETA could be about to break its eight-month ceasefire, following the discovery of one of ETA's biggest arms caches so far.

Radical Basque separatist parties which were trying to distance themselves from ETA's violent tactics feared that a splinter group within the armed movement was planning an attack, the daily El Pais said.

ETA was 'not planning anything good' with the 850 kilogrammes of explosives that were discovered on Tuesday, Basque regional Prime Minister Patxi Lopez said.

Speaking in Beijing, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero refused to 'speculate on what ETA is thinking,' but stressed that the group was 'weaker than ever.'

Police discovered the explosives at a Basque country house following the arrest of two brothers who were suspected of supplying ETA with weapons and explosives.

The previous weekend, French police detained two ETA suspects after an exchange of gunfire in which a police officer was injured.

The discovery of the arms cache and the violent attitude of the suspects held in France raised concern over the permanence of the ceasefire, which had sparked hopes of a solution to Spain's four-decade Basque conflict.

ETA declared the ceasefire in September and reinforced it in January by making it 'general' and 'permanent.'

The radical Basque separatist alliance Bildu, which the government suspects of links with ETA, said Wednesday it had 'zero' contacts with the group.

The government intends to scrutinize Bildu's electoral lists to make sure that ETA's banned political wing Batasuna does not use the alliance as a cover to contest the Basque local elections on May 22.

ETA broke its previous ceasefire with a car bombing that killed two people at Madrid airport in December 2006. That attack sparked the collapse of an incipient peace process with the Zapatero government.

The government now refuses new talks with ETA and maintains a hard line approach which has led to the arrests of at least 35 ETA suspects so far this year.

ETA, which has killed about 850 people since 1968, is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States.

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