ETA blamed for small bomb in northern Spain
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-22 20:53

A small bomb exploded in an office doorway in the northern Spanish city of San Sebastian on Friday and officials blamed the armed separatist group ETA.

 No one was hurt by the explosion, but the building and a car parked outside were damaged.

 "It was a device of less than 1 kilo (2.2 lb) of explosive, which has not yet been identified, with a timer," a spokesman for the Basque Interior Ministry said.

 "In principle we are attributing it to ETA ... along with a similar one a few days ago," he added.

 ETA, branded a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, has killed more than 800 people since 1968 in its campaign for an independent Basque state in north Spain and southwest France.

 Last Monday two well-known chefs, both with Michelin-starred restaurants in San Sebastian, were called for questioning by the Madrid High Court over allegations they had paid protection money to ETA.

 Juan Mari Arzak and Pedro Subijana were released without charge or bail, but the judge has not yet dropped the investigation against them.

 French police seized two ETA arms caches earlier this week and found 25 kilos of dynamite and 30 detonators, along with numerous guns and anti-tank rockets. Police are still following up leads following the arrest on October 3 in southern France of a couple suspected of being ETA's top leaders.

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