ETA's political leader held in French swoop

Police arrested the suspected political leader of the Basque guerilla group ETA, detained 20 other people and seized weapons in a swoop on the outlawed group in France and Spain yesterday, officials said.

Mikel Albisu Iriarte, alias Mikel Antza, said by Spanish authorities to have been ETA's political chief since 1993, was arrested with another suspected ETA veteran, Soledad Iparraguirre, alias Anboto, at Salies de Bearn in southwestern France, according to French police sources.

Iparraguirre, accused of involvement in at least 14 murders, is the highest-ranking woman in ETA, the Spanish Interior Ministry said in a statement.

A total of 20 people suspected of links to ETA were detained in France, where dozens of anti-terrorist and local police took part in a series of raids in a search for ETA bases.

Spanish police also arrested a truck driver in the central city of Burgos who was suspected of involvement in attacks last week in which bombs were attached to electricity pylons in Spain.

"The operation is very important. Seven homes have been searched (in southwestern France) and important documents, weapons and explosives have been seized," Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said in Zaragoza.

ETA, classed as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States, has killed more than 800 people since

1968 to press its demand for a Basque state carved out of northern Spain and southwestern France.

ETA has not carried out a fatal attack for more than a year. But it resumed planting small bombs in August, first targeting tourist resorts and then blowing up electricity pylons on lines connecting France and Spain.

The arrests were hailed in Spain as an important blow to ETA, already reported to be severely weakened following hundreds of arrests by French and Spanish police in recent years.

"The blow struck against the terrorist organisation today is an important step forward on the road to peace and shows that the end and the defeat of ETA is possible...," Spain's ruling Socialist party said in a statement.

Mr Alonso hailed French cooperation in fighting ETA and said he had discussed yesterday's operation with French counterpart Dominique de Villepin.

The Spanish Interior Ministry said Iparraguirre was in charge of collecting and distributing the so-called 'revolutionary tax', a form of extortion imposed by ETA on some Basque firms and businessmen.

Albisu, who like Iparraguirre was born in 1961, organised a prison breakout by two ETA members in 1985, the ministry said.