MADRID, July 27, 2008 (AFP) - A Spanish judge ordered the detention Sunday of seven people arrested this week on suspicion of belonging to the most active cell of the Basque separatist group ETA and freed three others, one on bail.

Among those ordered to be held was Arkaitz Goikoetxea, the leader of the 'Vizcaya' cell which the Spanish authorities suspect was behind most of the attacks carried out by ETA since it called off a ceasefire in June 2007.

Nine people were arrested Tuesday and a tenth person later in the week, as Spanish police dismantled what Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said was 'the most active, most dynamic' ETA unit.

Anti-terrorism judge Baltasar Garzon on Sunday ordered seven suspects to be held and released three, two without conditions and one on 12,000-euro bail.