Spanish Police Arrest Suspected ETA Bomber

Police found bomb-making material in a flat used by the suspect in the town of Hernani following his arrest.

Spanish police arrested a suspected member of armed separatist group ETA on Sunday in connection with car bombs planted in January.

A statement from the regional government in the northwestern Basque country said police had been monitoring the 24-year-old suspect and brought forward his arrest because his latest movements suggested he might be preparing an attack.

Police found bomb-making material in a flat used by the suspect in the town of Hernani following his arrest.

The arrest coincides with elections to renew the regional parliament in the Basque country. A separate government statement said polling stations were working normally.

ETA has killed more than 800 people since the 1960s in its campaign to carve out an independent Basque Country in northern Spain and southwestern France.

The Spanish government says the arrest of key leaders has reduced ETA to a relatively small number of fighters, but the group has continued to carry out bombings.