Uruguayan police arrested 26 suspected members of the Basque separatist organization ETA wanted by Spanish authorities for terrorist acts, officials said Saturday.
Those arrested included "ETA members of the top hierarchy who have participated in very recent terrorist activities in Spain," Interior Minister Juan Andres Ramirez said.The suspects were arrested Friday morning when intelligence service agents raided seven ranches and a restaurant in the Montevideo area and a beach residence at Punta de Este, about 84 miles east of the capital.
Ramirez said most of those arrested were Spanish nationals with assumed links to the terrorist organization Basque Fatherland and Liberty, known as ETA for its initials in the Basque language.
The ETA uses terrorism in seeking independence for the Basque region in northern Spain.
"We have sent copies to Madrid of the fingerprints of those detained to speed their identification," Ramirez said.
Most were arrested at the La Trainera restaurant, owned by Spanish immigrants suspected of aiding ETA members fleeing Spain, he said.