Basque separatist says Madrid has declared war with arrests

Police arrest Batasuna leaders in crackdown on Basque separatism
By Elizabeth Nash in Madrid
Published: 06 October 2007

Spanish police arrested virtually the entire leadership of the Basque separatist party Batasuna yesterday in a raid on a clandestine meeting of the banned organisation. Twenty-three people were detained at a Batasuna summit in the Basque village of Segura where, according to police, the party's old guard were preparing to hand control to new leaders. The arrests were ordered by Spain's leading anti-terrorism judge, Baltasar Garzon, who led moves to outlaw Batasuna five years ago when he accused it of being a front for the armed separatist group, Eta.

The raid is the most dramatic crackdown on the Basque separatists since the socialist government of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was elected in 2004.

Calls for independence are becoming more strident in both the Basque country and in Catalonia ahead of Spain's general election next March.

The Batasuna leaders, including their spokesman Joseba Permach, were led away in handcuffs by plain-clothed officers whose faces were hidden by hooded tops and balaclavas. The raid coincided with more than 15 house-to-house searches throughout the region ...

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3033355.ece

Zapatero rejects talks with ETA if he wins election
4 October 2007

MADRID - AFP - Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Thursday ruled out any new negotiations with the Basque separatist group ETA if he wins March elections.

"There is no prospect" of that, he said when asked in an interview on the Telecinco channel if he would consider renewing dialogue with ETA after the polls ...

The government was engaged in protracted attempts to negotiate a settlement with ETA before the group staged a bomb blast that killed two people at Madrid airport last December. Although ETA said the blast had not been intended to kill, Zapatero broke off talks ...

In June, ETA officially called off a 15-month-old ceasefire. Since then, the government has vowed to take a hardline against the separatists ...

http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=44609

Spanish judge orders arrest of Batasuna leaders
Thu Oct 4, 2007 10:32pm BST

MADRID, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon on Thursday ordered the arrest of 20 senior members of banned Basque political party Batasuna saying a meeting they were holding was illegal, newspaper El Pais reported on its Web site.

State prosecutor Candido Conde-Pumpido later confirmed the arrests which took place in the Basque town of Segura.

"These activities cannot be tolerated and if the police discover them, it seems correct that the judge should order an intervention," Conde-Pumpido told state radio.

Batasuna was banned five years ago because of its links to the ETA guerrilla group ...

http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKL0439151720071004