French Justice minister Dominique Perben hailed Sunday's raids in France and Spain leading to the capture of 17 armed Basque separatist group ETA members including its political leader.

He described it later in the day on French radio Europe 1 as "agreat battle won in the war against terrorism ... a very fine operation: a political leader, 16 accomplices, arms caches, sophisticated equipment," and noted "legal and political cooperation with Spain is highly effective."

Mikel "Antza" Albizu Iriarte and his girlfriend, Soledad "Anboto" Iparragirre Genetxea, were among the 17 people arrested in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques region in southwestern France near the Spanish border, with seven arms caches discovered, French officials confirmed.

Antza, 43, has been the group's political chief since 1993 and is believed to be the mastermind of many notorious terrorist attacks in the past years.

He was put on the wanted list of the EU in 2001 and entered the black list of the United States the following year.

The other detainees' identities were not immediately released.

Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso described the operation as a heavy blow to ETA.

The operation mobilized about 140 anti-terror policemen from the National Anti-Terrorism Division and was backed by the intelligence service, the French interior ministry said.

The Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA), which seeks Basque's separation from Spain, is regarded as a terrorist organization by Spain, the United States and the European Union due to its numerous bomb attacks.

The Spanish government initially blamed the ETA for the March 11 Madrid attacks that claimed more than 190 lives. But the group denies any role in the bombings.

Source: Xinhua