Spanish police carry out new searches on houses in Getxo, Ezcaray

Spanish police carried out new searches overnight on houses in the Basque town of Getxo and in La Rioja's Ezcaray. The searches follow the arrest of nine suspected members of the armed Basque group ETA on Tuesday, including Arkaitz Goikoetxea Basabe, believed to be the unit leader.

The investigation of the Bizkaia unit remains open and there could be more arrests. Paramilitary police broke into the apartment of Arkaitz Goikoetxea, 28, early on Tuesday in the northern city of Bilbao, seizing two handguns and false documents, Interior Minister Alfredo Rubalcaba said.

The eight others arrested, most in their early twenties, had no criminal record and were working secretly for ETA while leading apparently normal lives, Rubalcaba said.

Most arrests took place in Bilbao and nearby towns Elorrio, Getxo. One member of the group was captured in Malaga, southern Spain, and another in Pontevedra, Galicia, to the northwest.

Seven out of the nine people arrested were taken to Madrid on Tuesdaty whereas the other two will be taken on Wednesday. All of them are expected to appear in court on Friday.