FACTBOX-Key facts about Basque separatist group ETA
April 18 (Reuters) - French police have arrested the military chief of ETA, Jurdan Martitegi, along with at least two other members of the Basque independence movement, a Spanish government source said on Saturday.
Following are some details about ETA:
WHAT IS ETA?
* ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna, or Basque Country and Freedom) is fighting for an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwestern France.
* Spain, the United States and the European Union list ETA as a terrorist organisation. The group has killed more than 800 people since 1968, typically with car bombs or shootings.
* More than 750 suspected ETA members have been detained since 2000.
THE POLITICS:
* Both Spanish socialist and conservative governments have tried to negotiate with ETA. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero started peace talks after ETA declared a ceasefire in March 2006 but called them off when the separatists killed two people later that year.
* Spain has banned Basque political party Batasuna for being ETA's political wing, an allegation the party denies. In Feb. 2008 Spanish courts also banned two other Basque parties, the Accion Nacionalista Vasca (ANV) and Partido Comunista de la Tierra Vasca (PCTV) from taking part in March's national election.
RECENT ARRESTS:
* In December, French police arrested the then-military leader of the group, Aitzol Iriondo, also known as Balak.
* He had succeeded Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina who was arrested near the Spanish border in November.
* A top ETA commander, Francisco Javier Lopez Pena, also known as Thierry, was arrested last May with three other suspected ETA leaders in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux. He had been on the run for more than 20 years.
Following are some details about ETA:
WHAT IS ETA?
* ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna, or Basque Country and Freedom) is fighting for an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwestern France.
* Spain, the United States and the European Union list ETA as a terrorist organisation. The group has killed more than 800 people since 1968, typically with car bombs or shootings.
* More than 750 suspected ETA members have been detained since 2000.
THE POLITICS:
* Both Spanish socialist and conservative governments have tried to negotiate with ETA. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero started peace talks after ETA declared a ceasefire in March 2006 but called them off when the separatists killed two people later that year.
* Spain has banned Basque political party Batasuna for being ETA's political wing, an allegation the party denies. In Feb. 2008 Spanish courts also banned two other Basque parties, the Accion Nacionalista Vasca (ANV) and Partido Comunista de la Tierra Vasca (PCTV) from taking part in March's national election.
RECENT ARRESTS:
* In December, French police arrested the then-military leader of the group, Aitzol Iriondo, also known as Balak.
* He had succeeded Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina who was arrested near the Spanish border in November.
* A top ETA commander, Francisco Javier Lopez Pena, also known as Thierry, was arrested last May with three other suspected ETA leaders in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux. He had been on the run for more than 20 years.
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