Police seize key ETA suspects

The two suspects are believed to be a part of a cell suspected of four recent killings.

BARCELONA, Spain (CNN) -- Spanish police have arrested two key suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA and seized a car loaded with explosives.

Barcelona's mayor said the police operation meant a possible new attack by the group had been averted.

CNN's Al Goodman said the two people, a man and a woman, were believed to be part of a cell that had killed four high-profile figures in recent months, including a former health minister.

He said the arrests took place in the early hours of Thursday in Barcelona when police noticed a car with a twisted number plate near the city's Olympic Stadium.

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When they approached with guns drawn, the suspects said: "Don't shoot. We are from ETA. The car is full of explosives."

Barcelona's bomb squad later found 15 to 20 kilogrammes (33 to 44 pounds) of explosives in the vehicle, Goodman added.

Police said they believed the car was rigged with explosives to booby-trap and kill bomb squad officers who discovered the car.

It is believed the bomb was set to explode on Thursday, but had not yet been activated.

Goodman said: "This is a major victory for the police in its long battle against the separatists."

"Two people who are very likely to be part of the Barcelona commando have been arrested. This is very good news," Barcelona's mayor said Joan Clos told state radio.

"By the amount of the explosives in the car (an attack) was probably planned for (Thursday)," he said.

The arrests come in a week when there were two other bomb attempts in the Barcelona area. One bomb was detonated by police and the other failed to go off.

In another incident last month, a police officer was shot dead when he approached two people pushing a car later found full of explosives.

Former health minister Ernest Lluch was gunned down in Barcelona last November. He died after being shot twice in the head by gunmen who ambushed him at the basement car park in the building where he lived.

Lluch, 63, had served as health minister from 1982 to 1986 under former Socialist Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez.

ETA, an acronym for Basque Homeland and Freedom, has killed about 800 people since 1968 in its bid to carve out an independent state from northern Spain and southwestern France.

It was blamed for 23 deaths in 2000, the bloodiest year of ETA violence since 1992, when it killed 26 people.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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PNV Basque Nationalist Party
Basque Red Net
Association for Peace in the Basque Country
Spanish Government

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