Madrid - Two suspected members of the militant Basque separatist group ETA were detained Tuesday in central France, media reports quoted Spanish police sources as saying.

The man and woman were captured as they were about to steal a car, the sources said, while other reports said they were arrested in a tent as they camped in a forested area west of Lyon.

The couple, armed and carrying false identity documents and tools for stealing cars, did not resist arrest. Police seized two stolen cars, reports said.

The woman was believed to be Maria Lizarraga Merino, a former member of the pro-ETA youth organization Segi. The man's identity was not immediately known.

The two are believed to be linked with the logistical branch of ETA.

The arrests, made in collaboration with Spanish police, followed a string of three ETA car bombings in northern Spain within 24 hours. The most recent of them targeted a military academy and residence in Santona in the Cantabria region, claiming the life of soldier Luis Conde early Monday.

Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said the three cars were brought in from France, where ETA has most of its infrastructure.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the defence and interior ministers attended a funeral for Conde on Tuesday.

The parliamentary parties, trade unions, employers' and terrorism victims' associations Monday approved a joint declaration against terrorism in a show of renewed unity against ETA.

The 2001 anti-terrorism pact between the Socialists and conservatives had collapsed in June 2006 when Zapatero's Socialist government's attempt to negotiate with ETA came under criticism from the conservative People's Party (PP).

The negotiations broke down in December 2006. ETA is blamed for more than 820 deaths in its four-decade campaign for a sovereign Basque state. (dpa)