Judge accuses Eta of ethnic cleansing

Spain best-known judge, Baltasar Garzon, has tightened the screw further on Eta Basque separatists and prompted polemic in the region by accusing the organisation's sympathisers of "crimes against humanity" and "ethnic cleansing" in the Basque country.

Judge Garzon's comments were eagerly endorsed by José Maria Michavila, the Justice Minister. "Judge Garzon is calling a spade a spade," Mr Michavila said. But moderate Basque politicians were furious, and radio commentators warned that Judge Garzon was operating as an advance guard for the government, dangerously blurring juridical and political responsibilities.

In the legal indictment attempting to suspend the Batasuna party, which is considered Eta's political wing, Judge Garzon accuses Eta and its supporters of trying to force non-nationalist Basques out of the region. He compares Batasuna's actions with those of the Nazi party in before Hitler came to power, and likens the Basque situation to the Sicilian Mafia.

Iñaki Anasagasti, from the region's ruling conservative Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), said the judge was trying to put all nationalists under suspicion for the fault of an "indecent, murderous and fanatical minority".