Explosion rips through Basque station

MADRID, Feb 5 (Reuters) An explosion ripped through a train station at Lutxana in Spain's Basque region in the early hours today, blowing out doors and windows but injuring no one, police said.

Police are investigating whether the attack was the work of separatist group ETA or violent Basque pro-independence street gangs, the regional government's Interior Minister Javier Balza told state radio.

No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion which left the station burning for more than three hours.

ETA broke a nine-month ceasefire on December 30 by exploding a powerful car bomb at Madrid airport which killed two people.

Today's blast could also be the latest act of violence by pro-independence street gangs, who have attacked police and set fire to buses, cars and cash machines in the Basque region in recent months, even during ETA's ceasefire.

The station has come under attack several times before, most recently on October 12.

Local mayor Tontxu Rodriguez warned against prematurely pointing the finger at any organisation before the police investigation is completed.

''This isn't the road to peace and freedom,'' he told state radio. ''This only manages to make the daily life of ordinary citizens difficult.'' Spanish police yesterday arrested 18 members of three Basque gangs, Jarrai, Haika and Segi, on the orders of Spain's Supreme Court which ruled they were ''terrorist organisations'' linked to ETA. The court ordered the arrest of 23 individuals in total, four of whom were earlier detained by police.

It ruled the groups set out to commit crimes, disturb and terrify the local population and were part of the same movement headed by ETA, which has waged a 40-year campaign for Basque independence from Spain, killing around 800 people.

REUTERS DKA HT1912