Eta suspects arrested in France

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Two suspected members of the Basque separatist group Eta have been arrested in southern France.

They are the first suspected group members to be detained since a bombing at Madrid airport 10 days ago, but it is unclear if the arrests are linked.

One of the suspects was however being connected to the discovery of an arms cache last week.

Two Ecuadoreans died in the blast on 30 December. The attack has effectively ended a nine-month-old peace process.

Basque separatists, who want an independent state in northern Spain, have frequently accused the government of offering Eta nothing to reward it for the ceasefire, declared last March.

Stash found

Last week, police discovered two caches of bomb-making equipment and explosives in the Basque country.

Officials said 100kg of explosives was found on Thursday, ready to be used in a bomb, and a further, smaller stash was discovered nearby on Friday.

They have not linked it directly with the Madrid blast, which flattened a five-storey building at the airport.

The deaths of the two Ecuadoreans were the first attributed to Eta in more than three years.