MADRID: Police have arrested ETA's military chief, Spain's government said yesterday, the third key leader of the armed Basque separatist group to be captured in under six months.

Three units of French paramilitary police arrested ETA commander Jurdan Martitegi in a Pyrenees mountain town late on Saturday afternoon, along with suspected ETA guerrilla cell leader Alexander Uriarte, Spain's Interior Ministry said.

In a joint operation, Spanish police arrested five men and one woman on Saturday in Spain's Basque country who are suspected members of Uriarte's cell.