Boycott of parliamentary elections urged by Eta

SPAIN: BASQUE SEPARATIST guerrillas Eta called on Saturday for a boycott of a parliamentary election on March 9th in protest against what it called repression by the Spanish government.

In a statement published in Basque newspaper Gara, Eta accused the government of carrying out a campaign of arrests, imprisonments and bans on political parties.

The call is unlikely to have much of an influence on voter turnout because most Basques reject Eta violence, and a majority do not want independence from Spain, according to polls.

The guerrillas have killed more than 800 people in four decades of armed struggle seeking independence for ancestral Basque lands in northern Spain and southern France.

Eta's statement came one day after a bomb exploded outside the headquarters of Spain's ruling Socialist Party in the northern town of Derio after a warning telephone call in the name of Eta.

No one was injured, but the explosion damaged buildings in the area in the early hours of Friday morning.

Spain's prime minister, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, faces criticism over failed Eta peace talks and has launched a crackdown on the Basque separatist rebels and their allies.

The Spanish high court banned two Basque parties for three years last month because of their links to Eta, preventing them from taking part in the election.

Mr Zapatero's ruling Socialist Party holds a lead over the opposition conservatives, the latest polls showed.

One Gesop poll printed in newspaper El Periodico on Thursday showed the Socialists with 42.5 per cent support, a lead of 5.5 percentage points.

Another poll printed in left-wing newspaper Publico the same day put the Socialists on 45.3 per cent to 38.7 per cent for the Popular Party.

Meanwhile, Spanish police said yesterday they had arrested two suspected members of Basque separatist group Eta on Sunday, both of whom figured on the "most wanted" police list of Eta activists.

Oroitz Aldekoa-Otalora and Agurne Salterain could be linked to a bomb that exploded on Friday outside the headquarters of Spain's ruling Socialist party in the northern town of Derio, El Pais newspaper reported. No injuries were caused by the blast.

Interior minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba has said he believes Eta will try to kill before the March 9th election.

The guerrillas continue to wage their campaign of violence in pursuit of Basque independence from Spain.

© 2008 Reuters

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times