ETA suspect arrested after raid

GRENOBLE, France -- Police have detained a suspected member of the Basque separatist group ETA after raiders stole 1.5 tonnes of explosives from a warehouse near Grenoble.

The man was caught around 2:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) as he was trying to drive through a police roadblock near the south eastern city.

The roadblocks were put in place after six to eight masked men broke into the warehouse, stole explosives, 20,000 detonators and held eight people hostage for several hours, prosecutor Xavier Richaud said.

Two men held the watchmen hostage at the warehouse in a three-hour operation while the others loaded the explosives into two trucks and drove away.

The hostages, who included a couple and their baby were released two hours later unharmed.

ETA, whose initials stand for "Basque Homeland and Freedom" in the Basque language, has killed more than 800 people since 1968 in its campaign to carve out an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwestern France.

The group has claimed or been blamed for 26 killings since it ended a 14-month truce in December 1999.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Association for Peace in the Basque Country
Basque Government
Spanish Ministry of Interior

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