A policeman leaves the apartment of the suspected Eta logistics chief

They said the logistics chief of the armed group, Felix Ignacio Esparza, was detained near the city of Dax.

Felix Alberto Lopez, believed to be a former leader of Eta, was held near the town of Angouleme.

The men were arrested in a joint operation by French and Spanish police in the region, the traditional base of the ETA leadership.

Police also arrested an unidentified woman suspected of Eta membership, French radio reported.

Top suspects

Mr Esparza, 41, was reportedly walking with his two-year-old daughter - and offered no resistance.

Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes told a news conference in Madrid he was one of the Eta suspects they "were most interested in arresting".

He added that Mr Esparza was wanted for seven killings and a kidnapping, the interior minister said.

"He was part of the terrorist organisation Eta's leadership, was in charge of logistics and also worked to co-ordinate logistics and operations for the rest of the gang's units."

Mr Lopez, alias Mobutu, had been on the run since escaping from a French hotel four years ago, as the authorities prepared to expel him to Spain.

He allegedly took over the Eta leadership in 1992 after police arrested most senior members in a French raid.

Mr Acebes praised France for its help in fighting Eta.

Last year, French police arrested 37 suspected Eta members or collaborators and police in Spain arrested another 120, according to the Associated Press news agency.

More than 800 people have been killed during Eta's 38-year campaign of violence to form an independent Basque homeland in the north of Spain.