Basque radicals assert that legalization is their "right"

The Basque Country's radical pro-independence groups, known collectively as the abertzale and outlawed as political parties because of their continued support for ETA terrorism, asserted their "right" to be considered legal again on Friday. They base their argument on the fact they are planning to form a new political party in time to run for municipal elections in May, which will reject terrorist violence, something earlier groups had failed to do.

"Whoever observes the law is legal," said Miren Legorburu, a radical left-wing councilor for the town of Hondarribia, in reference to the Party Law that outlawed Batasuna and all its offshoots. "We said that we are going to observe the law."

Legorburu added that the lack of an expected announcement by ETA of an end to violence and the recent discovery of new weapons caches should not affect matters. Running in the elections "is a right that must not be conditioned" by what others do, the councilor said.

The abertzale have been publicly distancing themselves from ETA in a bid to return to the political arena since the 2009 regional elections, when the Socialist Party's unexpected victory ended three decades of nationalist rule (radical parties were banned from running).

Meanwhile, the High Court authorized a march in support of ETA prisoners scheduled for Saturday in Bilbao, despite protests from victims' associations.