Bomb in Spain after ETA suspects held

Anti-ETA protests have not curbed a new round of Basque Country violence

BILBAO, Spain (Reuters) -- A bomb exploded in Spain's Basque region just hours after police arrested four people suspected of links to the Basque separatist group ETA.

The blast, caused by a small device hidden in a plant pot outside the door of a Spanish newspaper journalist's home in San Sebastian, caused no damage or injuries, police said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which targeted a reporter who had previously been threatened by ETA.

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ETA's radical youth followers have been waging a campaign of firebombings and vandalism against those they consider enemies of the separatist cause.

The arrests occurred in Bilbao in the Basque Country of northern Spain three days after police detained eight other alleged ETA members in Madrid and Barcelona.

"The four suspects belong to the new generation responsible for street violence sweeping the Basque region," Interior Minister Jaime Mayor Oreja told state radio.

They were believed to have been involved in reorganising one of ETA's most active cells, the so-called Vizcaya commando unit, Mayor Oreja said.

The latest blow against ETA came 11 days after a Madrid car bombing killed a Supreme Court judge, his bodyguard and driver in the bloodiest attack blamed on the separatists since they called off a ceasefire last December.

ETA has been linked to 20 killings this year in its deadliest offensive since 1992, when it killed 26 people.

ETA has been blamed for about 800 killings in its 32-year fight for an independent Basque state encompassing parts of northern Spain and southern France.

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Association for peace in the Basque Country
Basque autonomous region

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