Spanish police 'smash' Eta unit

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The Spanish authorities say they have smashed a commando unit belonging to the Basque separatist group, Eta.

The Spanish interior minister said the unit was thought to have been behind 24 attacks in Spain between 2004 and 2006.

Eight people were held and bomb-making material seized, in what is described as one of the biggest police operations since Eta declared a ceasefire in 2006.

That deal, agreed in March, was broken nine months later by a bomb attack at Madrid airport which killed two people.

The two deaths were the first attributed to Eta in more than three years. The group is seeking an independent state in northern Spain and south-west France.

Outlawed party

News of the raid came as thousands of left-wing Basque Nationalists held a rally in the city of Bilbao, calling for an end to the conflict in the Basque region.

Activists are calling for an end to the conflict in the Basque regionThe event went ahead but not as it was first conceived by the organisers, says the BBC's Danny Wood in Madrid.

According to the outlawed Basque party, Batasuna, the rally was to be used as the launch of their newly-registered political group, Abertzale Sozialisten Batasuna.

The Supreme Court banned Batasuna in 2003 for supporting Eta. Local elections are scheduled for May and authorities are deciding whether the new party complies with the law.

A Spanish judge overturned a ban on the rally after the majority of the organisers agreed not to use any verbal or written references to Abertzale Sozialisten.