Mexico extradites six suspected ETA members to Spain
Six suspected members of Spain's Basque separatist group ETA on Thursday were extradited from Mexico to Spain, the Mexican Attorney General's Department (PGR) said.

The alleged members of ETA -- a Basque acronym meaning "Basque Homeland and Liberty" -- were put onboard a Spanish army plane with a 60-strong escort from the Federal Investigations Agency in the PGR's hangar at Mexico City's international airport. The plane took off for Spain a few hours later.

Before their extradition, the suspects were given medical examinations by the Mexican branch of Interpol -- the association of international police forces.

The six Basque citizens -- Maria Asuncion Gorrochategui Vazquez, Jose Maria Urquijo Borde, Asier Arronategui, Ernesto Alberdi, Felix Salustiano Garcia Rivera and Juan Carlos Artola Diaz -- were arrested in a Mexican Pacific coast resort in 2003.

The PGR said in the following months Spain had offered solid evidence suggesting that the six people -- one woman and five men -- were affiliated to an exiled ETA group.

The Spanish government has accused the suspects of laundering money for ETA, but they have denied any charges.

ETA, the Basque group, which wants to establish an independent state straddling northern Spain and southwestern France, has killed 850 people since 1968 in its separatist activities. After adecades-long campaign, the group declared a permanent ceasefire on March 22, coming into effect two days later.