A senior member of the Basque separatist movement said the arrest of 23 of his fellow party members amounted to a "declaration of war" by the Spanish government.
"This police operation uncovers the decision of the Spanish government, which is to issue a total declaration of war against Basque independence," Pernando Barrena, a leader of the outlawed Batasuna party, said at a news conference on Saturday in the northern Basque city of San Sebastian. He described the detentions of the members of Batasuna as "kidnappings."
Almost the entire suspected leadership of Batasuna was detained in a Thursday night raid in the town of Segura while its executive committee was holding a secret meeting, police and court officials said.
Barrena, the only Batasuna leader who has not been detained, said on Friday the raid was revenge for the pro-independence movement's hard-line position in the peace talks.
The raid was ordered by top anti-terror judge Baltasar Garzon, who led moves to outlaw the party four years ago on the basis that it was the political wing of the armed Basque separatist group ETA. Garzon is expected to question the 23 Batasuna members yesterday. All of the detainees were transferred to a Madrid prison on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in several cities in the Basque region thousands of supporters of Batasuna marched to protest the arrests and to call for Basque independence. Basque police declined to give a figure on how many people attended Saturday's rallies. Television and other news reports said protests in the cities of Bilbao and San Sebastian each drew 3,000 people.
In the city of Pamplona, another march of 300 people ended in clashes between truncheon-wielding police and masked youths. Several people were injured, police said.
ETA called a cease-fire in March of last year, but ensuing peace talks went nowhere and ETA ended the truce with a thunderous blast that killed two people in December.
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