Ban on party linked to ETA

MADRID, Spain -- Spain's parliament passed a law on Tuesday aimed at banning a Basque nationalist party, despite warnings from Basque leaders that it could fuel ETA violence.

Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar won overwhelming support from lawmakers for his drive to ban the party, Batasuna, for its alleged links with the armed group ETA.

The Senate voted 214 to 15 to approve the bill, which does not mention Batasuna by name but which would permit the Supreme Court to outlaw parties deemed to promote terrorism, racism, or xenophobia.

Earlier this month the lower house voted 304 to 16 in favor of the bill.

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Most Spanish politicians accuse Batasuna of promoting terrorism and being the political branch of the outlawed ETA. Batasuna is staunchly pro-independence, but maintains it is not the political wing of ETA.

The terror group is blamed for about 800 killings since 1968 in its fight for Basque independence.

Nevertheless, despite public support for a crackdown on what the government calls the supporters of terrorism, the law was opposed in some quarters -- especially in the fiercely independent northern Basque region where Batasuna wins around 10 percent of the vote.

Basque bishops, figures of authority in Catholic Spain, infuriated Aznar's centre-right government last month with a warning that banning Batasuna could have somber consequences" by deepening confrontation in the Basque region, with an increased risk to innocent civilians.

They said dialogue among political parties would be a better alternative.

PM Aznar criticised the bishops' stance as "intellectual and moral perversion."

Basque newspapers reacted angrily on Tuesday at what they saw as central government attempts to impose undemocratic legislation.

"The ban on Batasuna and the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of Basques is not an isolated event," read the editorial in the nationalist newspaper Gara.

"It is part of the strategy laid out in the pact against the secessionist danger, as Aznar calls it, signed by the Socialist Party and the Popular Party in 2000," the paper said.

Nationalist newspapers and politicians alike called for a strong popular reaction against the law. "The time has come to fight for the independence of the Basque region in the streets," said Basque Nationalist Party leader Xavier Arzalluz.

Dozens of Batasuna members have been arrested over the years as suspected collaborators of ETA, which is listed as a terrorist group by the European Union and the U.S.

Batasuna is not on those lists of terrorist organisations.

Batasuna's leaders have refused to join mainstream parties in condemning ETA bombings and shootings.