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France finds more ETA weapons stashes

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-22 19:37

PARIS: Police discovered four more weapons stashes Friday in southern France thought to belong to the Basque separatist group ETA, French and Spanish authorities said.

The four stashes were found after three suspected ETA members were arrested this week in the French Alps and three other weapons caches were found.

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French police acting alongside Spanish counterparts on Friday located more than 330 kilograms (660 pounds) of explosive material, 15 guns and 2,000 rounds of ammunition stashed in several communities in the southern Herault region, Spain's Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Police also seized six ready-made car bombs together with instructions on how to set them, the Spanish ministry said.

French law enforcers said the caches contained chemicals that could be used to make bombs.

On Wednesday, police detained three suspected ETA members in the French Alps. Police said they were not ruling out a link between the stashes and the arrests.

ETA members, most of them born in Spain, have long taken refuge in France, which has its own Basque community, in a bid to evade direct surveillance by Spanish police.

ETA has killed more than 825 people since 1968, when it started a violent campaign for an independent Basque state in parts of northeastern Spain and southwestern France.

The group has carried out a string of bombings in recent weeks, including in the Spanish city of Burgos. A July attack on the island of Mallorca killed two police officers and injured dozens.

ETA also carried out a string of small blasts in Mallorca on August 2 aimed at striking fear among tourists at the height of the summer's holiday season.