Spain holds three suspected leftist guerrillas

Three suspected members of the outlawed Spanish Marxist group Grapo were arrested in a suburb of Madrid early this morning, a…

Three suspected members of the outlawed Spanish Marxist group Grapo were arrested in a suburb of Madrid early this morning, a government source said.

Grapo was founded in 1975 as the armed wing of the then banned Communist Party. Most of its original members are now in jail for their part in the group's bombings and kidnappings in the 1970 and 1980s.

The two men and a woman arrested are suspected of robbing a bank in June and possible involvement in other crimes.

The group is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union and is held responsible for 82 killings and three kidnappings in the last 25 years.

In recent years Grapo's activities have been largely limited to attempts to rob security vans, as the group struggles to obtain funds, and occasional minor bombings of banks.

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