SPAIN: A Basque terrorist plot, aimed at causing bloodshed and panic in Madrid on New Year's Eve, was foiled by the action of two Civil Guards.
The guards approached two men acting suspiciously in a car on the outskirts of Madrid. One of the guards was killed when the terrorists opened fire, and the second guard and one of the terrorists were injured.
The other terrorist escaped after running across a busy motorway and hijacking a car at gunpoint.
The terrorists' Ford Escort car, stolen in France last month, contained 130 kilos of explosives which were blown up by bomb disposal experts.
It was originally believed that it comprised a powerful single car bomb, to be detonated in the centre of Madrid, rather than five smaller bombs.
Gotzon Aramburu, who has a long record of pro-ETA violence, was taken into custody at the scene. He is recovering from gunshot wounds and has been questioned by police.
The second man, Jesus Maria Etxeberria, was detained in San Sebastian five hours later after travelling in the hijacked car, a train and two taxis. Police arrested him as he was about to board a bus bound for France.
The Interior Minister, Mr Angel Acebes, confirmed that Etxeberria has told police the explosives were packed into five packets, one of 90 kilos and four others of 10 kilos.
Their plan was to detonate the bombs in a chain of explosions in busy shopping centres in Madrid on New Year's Eve, causing maximum damage and loss of life.
The men have admitted that they arrived in Spain from France on December 1st, detonated a car bomb in a parking lot in Santander two days later, and arrived in Madrid on 5th, where they rented a room. Last weekend they travelled back to France to collect the car and explosives and were returning to Madrid when intercepted by the Civil Guards.
The fact that they appear to be working alone as an itinerant unit, without backup and infrastructure in Madrid, is a sign of ETA's weakness.
One hundred and twenty-three members of the organisation are behind bars in Spain, 55 in France and six more in other countries, and they have lost many of their most experienced gunmen and explosives experts.
Another important blow to their operating capacity came yesterday morning when French police detained two important ETA leaders in south-west France.
Ibon Fernandez Iradi and Ainhoa Garcia Montera were armed when they were arrested while driving their car near Bayonne.
The couple assumed the leadership of ETA's commando units in September after the arrest of the previous leaders in another police operation. Ibon Fernandez is wanted in connection with a series of terrorist attacks over the past five years, including the parcel bomb sent to the Basque journalist Gorka Landaburu who lost the sight in one eye and fingers on both hands.
Garcia is alleged to have been directly responsible for three killings and indirectly in four other terrorists attacks in Spain and France. The couple fled Spain in August 2001 and have been living in France since that date.
Mr Acebes confirmed Spanish authorities believed Ibon Fernandez was the head of ETA's "operational units" - groups of ETA guerrillas who carry out bombings and shootings.
Sources also said Garcia was believed to be part of the leadership of ETA's operational units."It is another very harsh blow to the organisational structure of ETA," Mr Acebes told reporters in Madrid.