Haika: The new Basque separatists

By CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- The 15 people arrested by Spanish police on Tuesday morning are suspected members of Basque independence group Haika.

Police say Haika -- which means to rise up in the Basque language -- is the youth wing of the Basque separatist group, ETA.

The arrests were made in early-morning raids in four provinces of northern Spain -- Guipuzcoa, Vizcaya, Alava and Navarra -- areas claimed by ETA for its desired Basque homeland.

Investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzon, best known for seeking to try General Augusto Pinochet of Chile on human rights charges in Spain, supervised the arrests, along with National Police Chief Juan Cotino.

Both men were in Bilbao, the largest Basque city, during the crackdown involving up to 300 police officers.

Haika was formed last year following a merger between Spanish pro-Basque independence youth group Jarrai and its French counterpart Gasteriak.

It officially presented itself on April 22, 2000 at a meeting in France before 20,000 young supporters.

ETA has publicly described Haika members as being the "new growth" in the Basque independence movement.

But Spanish National Police Chief Juan Cotino said the group was a "greenhouse" for future killers.

"First they throw stones, then petrol bombs, and next they pick up a gun or plant a car bomb."

The arrests were not Haika's first brush with the law. In September 2000, prosecutors at the National Court in Madrid began investigating statements which they said encouraged terrorism.

The statements published in German newspaper Die Welt were attributed to Igor Suberbiola, 21, described by the newspaper as a Haika leader.

He was quoted as saying that it was understandable why some members of Haika would take up arms for Basque independence.

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