Spain ? A senior member of the Basque separatist movement said Spain’s government had effectively declared war by arresting most of his outlawed party’s leadership while thousands demonstrated Saturday to demand independence for the northern region.

Police detained 23 leaders of the Batasuna party – considered the political wing of the armed militant group ETA – while they held a secret meeting Thursday in the town of Segura.

“This police operation uncovers the decision of the Spanish government, which is to issue a total declaration of war against Basque independence,” Pernando Barrena told a news conference in the city of San Sebastian in the Basque region.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had pursued a peace process with ETA after it declared a cease-fire in March 2006. But the talks went nowhere, and ETA shattered its cease-fire with a December bombing that killed two people. The government has since arrested dozens of ETA suspects and is now going after their political allies.