2 ETA members arrested in northern Spain

Spanish security forces confirmed on Tuesday that they have detained two presumed members of the Basque separatist movement ETA. Jon Lizarribar Lasarte and Ruben Gelbentzu were detained in the town of Urnieta and Andoain in the northern province of Gipuzkoa in an operation which took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning. They are suspected of having taken part in four terrorist attacks carried out in 2002 by the group which wants the Independence of the Basque region in northern Spain and southwest France. These attacks took place in the University of Zaragoza, the Corte Ingles department store in the same city and two businesses in the region of Navarra. There were no fatalities in the explosions although a total of six people were injured in the different explosions. The pair fled Spain and Lizarribar was arrested by French police after stealing a car in France on October 20, 2004. He was armed and carrying 14,000 euros in cash as well as false papers in the name of Perdo Almodovar, who just happens to be one of Spain's most famous film directors. He was accused of forming part of an ETA terrorist cell. The 'Comando Basajaun' and in 2007 was condemned to six years in prison and forbidden from returning to France after completing his sentence, which ended in 2009. Gelbentzu, meanwhile served almost two years in jail for terrorist offenses between 1995 and 1997 and was again arrested in 2003, although on the second occasion he was released shortly after his detention. The operation shows that Spanish security forces have not eased the pressure on the group after ETA called a permanent ceasefire in the run up to the November 2011 general elections. The Spanish government highlights that the group has neither dissolved, nor has it handed over any weapons, although ETA's political wing also highlights that the government has made no concessions, such as moving some ETA prisoners in Spanish jails closer to prisons in the Basque region, in an attempt to secure a lasting peace. The two latest arrests means that 45 suspected ETA members have been detained since October 2011 with 13 arrests this year. Many recent operations have been against ETA's logistical structure, much of which is based in France.