Prison for Basque, Breton separatists

PARIS, June 30 (UPI) -- A French court sentenced 14 separatists to prison sentences of two to 20 years for the 1999 theft of 8.7 tons of explosives.

The sentences, handed down late Wednesday in Paris, are against Basque and Breton militants, who prosecutors said planned to use the explosives to help stage deadly attacks by the Basque separatist group ETA in Spain.

ETA is accused of killing more than 800 people during its three-decade-plus campaign to establish an independent Basque state in northern Spain and parts of southern France.

The Bretons were accused of providing logistical support for the robberies.