Spanish police arrest nine ETA suspects

MADRID, Spain -- Spanish police have arrested nine suspected members or supporters of the armed Basque separatist group ETA, including a city councillor.

The pre-dawn arrests were part of a crackdown, code-named Black Wolf, that has grabbed ETA's suspected top commander and at least 36 others during the past month.

Spanish police swept into homes mainly in the ETA stronghold of Guipuzcoa province but also made arrests throughout the Basque country.

"They are presumed members of the branch ETA-EKIN taking part in civil disobedience," an Interior Ministry spokesman said, referring to a campaign to refuse Spanish or French identity papers and issue documents from an "independent" Basque state.

Interior Minister Jaime Mayor Oreja, leading the government drive against ETA, told congress that ETA-EKIN was an integral part of the larger ETA organisation and that the civil disobedience campaign violated the constitution.

The suspects are alleged to have given ETA political and financial support.

The spokesman said one of those arrested was a San Sebastian city councillor, Carlos Trenor Dicente, belonging to Euskal Herritarrok, the radical political party that is allied with ETA.

Authorities said the arrests decimated the political structure of EKIN -- a group the government accuses of being engaged in everything from raising funds for the ETA to helping plan attacks.

The operation was ordered by High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon, who is best known for his attempt to bring former Chilean ruler Augusto Pinochet to Spain to face trial for torture and other human rights charges stemming from his 1973-1990 rule.

About 100 agents of the National Police were involved in the latest arrests and the strategy follows other arrests in Spain and France aimed at weakening ETA which has been blamed for 13 assassinations this year and 800 deaths over 32 years.

ETA, which wants to build an independent state in northern Spain and southern France, is alleged to have gone on a summer killing spree claiming eight victims in little more than two months.

Police on both sides of the border have responded with mass arrests in recent weeks including the detention on September 15 in France of Ignacio Gracia Arregui, who police called ETA's "number one" leader.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

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