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Madrid: Radical Basque nationalists called protests in Spain on Friday after police arrested nearly all of the top members of a party banned for links to ETA rebels.
Police detained 22 leaders of the illegal Batasuna party during a meeting in the Basque town of Segura on Thursday night, further aggravating the issue of Basque separatism which already looked set to dominate next March's Spanish general elections.
Prominent Batasuna officials including spokesman Joseba Permach were led handcuffed into unmarked police cars by officers in civilian clothing, their faces covered by hooded tops and balaclava masks.
Details of charges were not immediately available, although the arrests were ordered by Spain's best-known judge, Baltasar Garzon, who is investigating Batasuna links to ETA.
Batasuna's top leader, Arnaldo Otegi, has been in prison since June for praising ETA, which has killed more than 800 people in four decades of struggle for independence from Spain.
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