| A cache of explosives allegedly belonging to the outlawed Basque separatist group Eta and ready for immediate use was found near the French border with Spain, Spain’s interior minister has announced. French police made the discovery after the capture of two important Eta members in south-western France. A third, less senior, Eta member also was arrested the police raid, part of a French-Spanish collaboration, Interior Minister Angel Acebes told reporters in Madrid. He said police discovered two backpacks with explosives and two booby-trap bombs in an apartment in the southern French city of Bagneres de Bigorre. "Inside of the backpacks there were two explosive devices ... possibly ready to be handed over (to other people), as well as two booby-trap bombs also prepared for immediate use" Acebes said. The Eta captives include elusive former Eta leader Felix Alberto Lopez de la Calle, alias Mobutu, and the separatist group’s logistics chief, Felix Ignacio Esparza. The third captive is a woman identified as Maria Mercedes Chivite Berango. "It’s one of the heaviest blows to Eta in recent years because of the importance of the members detained," Acebes said. |