10 more ETA suspects arrested
By CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
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MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spanish police arrested 10 suspected collaborators of the Basque separatist group ETA on Thursday, raising to 33 the number of ETA suspects who have been detained this week, the Interior Ministry said.
The latest phase of the crackdown involved the pre-dawn arrests of nine men and a woman who run the business and editorial operations of a pro-independence newspaper published in the Basque language.
The name of the newspaper, Euskaldunon Egunkaria, translates as "The newspaper for those who speak Basque." It publishes ETA's periodic statements claiming responsibility for fatal attacks.
The Interior Ministry said the newspaper and its management have clear links to ETA, which is blamed for more than 800 killings in its 34-year fight for an independent Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwestern France.
The United States and the European Union list ETA as a terrorist organization. Spain is a member of the EU.
Backed by a court order, hundreds of paramilitary Civil Guards fanned out in the northern Basque province of Guipuzcoa to make Thursday's arrests. They also searched 21 homes and offices, seizing documents and computer material.
On Wednesday, Spanish police arrested 14 suspected ETA collaborators in raids in four northern provinces with Basque roots, including Guipuzcoa.
Officials said ETA's leadership was trying to put the 14 suspects into place to provide logistical support.
On Tuesday, the Basque regional police arrested nine people suspected of pro-ETA street violence, such as the burning of buses and cash machines -- a common occurrence in the troubled Basque region.
Also on Tuesday, Basque police deactivated a 7-kilogram dynamite bomb that had been placed on a rural road used by Basque police officers.
This year, ETA is blamed for one killing, the February 8 shooting of a police officer who was an outspoken critic of Basque independence.
