Spanish and French police on Tuesday arrested 12 members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA in a joint operation, and charged them with extortion, said Spanish Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar.

The arrests included the 73-year-old Julen de Madariaga, founder of the ETA, whose name in Basque stands for the Basque Homeland and Freedom.

Five members of the group were arrested in Spain and seven others in France, while they were collecting extortion money from local businesses.

Lopez said that the arrests would not change the so-called "road map" process which Spain's government is undertaking to end violence in the country.

As many as 850 people have been killed since 1968 in the separatist drive by the ETA, which wants to establish an independent state straddling northern Spain and southwestern France.

The ETA declared a unilateral ceasefire on March 22, which came into effect two days later.

Source: Xinhua