ETA blow up explosives camper van - Spanish government

MADRID, Aug 27 (Reuters) A camper van which exploded in a southern Spanish olive grove was set off by Basque rebels planning more attacks to follow up a car bombing in the Basque Country last Friday, the Spanish government said today.

The Mercedes camper van, which police say was stolen in France on Friday by five ETA members, blew up yesterday evening leaving a large crater in the area of Les Coves de Vinroma in the province of Castellon.

A day earlier, police searching for ETA bombers had stopped the camper van but let it continue on its way. The vehicle's owners, kidnapped when it was stolen, were freed by the guerrillas on Monday, the Interior Ministry said.

''Early signs are that, faced with the police action on Saturday, the suspected ETA members who took the vehicle to Castellon province from France decided to blow it up,'' the ministry said in a statement.

''ETA had been planning to use the explosives for imminent attacks,'' it said.

Two police officers were slightly hurt on Friday by a car bomb in the Basque town of Durango, in the first such attack since ETA ended a ceasefire in June.

The group, which has only minority support among Basques, has killed more than 800 people in four decades of armed struggle for independence for the Basque Country in northern Spain.

REUTERS SY HS2137