Police Arrest Leading ETA Member in France

Ainhoa Adin Jauregui is believed to be responsible for attacks in the 1990s in which three people were killed, Spanish media reported.

French police arrested one of the most wanted members of Basque separatist group ETA on Tuesday, weeks ahead of a Spanish general election in which the handling of the guerrilla group is under close scrutiny.

Police arrested a 35-year-old woman, Ainhoa Adin Jauregui, in Hendaye, close to the Spanish border, a French source close to the inquiry said, confirming earlier information given by the Spanish authorities.

She is believed to be responsible for attacks in the 1990s in which three people were killed, Spanish media reported.

The swoop comes days after the government moved to ban two Basque political parties alleged to have links to the armed separatists, who have waged a decades-old campaign of violence to win independence for the Basque country.

But the timing of the expected bans on Accion Nacionalista Vasca (ANV) and Partido Comunista de la Tierra Vasca (PCTV), six weeks ahead of the vote, has prompted criticism of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government, which critics say timed the announcement to give it political capital.

The government held talks with the guerrillas which led to a ceasefire in 2006, but the truce broke in late December of that year with an attack on a car park at Madrid airport which killed two people.

The Socialist government has been cracking down on ETA since then in the face of fierce criticism from the conservative opposition, who argue Zapatero should never have opened the door to talks.

The prime minister has said that if he wins the March 9 vote, he will not restart negotiations with the guerrillas, who have killed more than 800 people in their fight for independence.