Move to ban Eta's political wing threatens backlash in Basque country

Spain dramatically raised the stakes in its fight against Basque terrorism yesterday by launching a controversial fast-track procedure to outlaw the radical Batasuna party, considered to be the political wing of Eta.

The government's move was condemned widely in the Basque country, even by bishops and other moderates, as likely to polarise society and perpetuate the conflict.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, is seeking an emergency session of parliament to outlaw the party as soon as possible. His move follows a car bomb explosion near Alicante on Sunday which killed a six-year-old girl and a man aged 57. Batasuna failed to condemn the blast. The state prosecutor is studying a government dossier arguing its case for a ban.

Batasuna's leader Arnaldo Otegi, described as "human rubbish" by Mr Aznar, warned that a ban would lead to "open conflict" in the Basque country and "slam the door on any possible solution", creating "confrontation".

He called for "a mobilisation of the Basque people in a democratic standoff against the Spanish state".

Joseba Egibar, a leader of the region's ruling conservative Basque National Party, said Madrid was "deluding people" if it thought banning Batasuna would end Eta terrorism.

Batasuna abstained in a resolution backed by all the other parties in the Basque regional parliament condemning Sunday's explosion. The Interior Minister, Angel Acebes, said such silence amounted to support for terrorism according to the Parties Law approved in June. The law allows the dissolution of a party that "promotes, justifies or excuses" terrorist acts. Mr Acebes said: "A party that does not condemn Sunday's actions, or seeks to excuse or justify them, deserves to be outlawed."

A ban, which must be approved by the Supreme Court, would stop Batasuna's activities and freeze its assets; the party would lose subsidies due to all parties.

Politicians in Madrid seized upon France's decision to dissolve the neo-Nazi Unité Radicale group after one of its members was accused of trying to kill President Jacques Chirac. But the differences are obvious: Batasuna is no paramilitary fringe group, but a party supported by 10 per cent of Basque voters. It has regional MPs and controls many town halls.