Bishops question proposed rules

MADRID, Spain - The government calls it part of the war on terror. A critic says it's more like the Spanish Inquisition.\nA letter by four bishops criticizing a government-sponsored bill that would outlaw any party that refuses to condemn terrorism has unleashed passions in Spain, where the militant group ETA has killed some 800 people since the late 1960s in its campaign for an independent Basque state.\nThe Political Parties Law, which would ban factions that "foment hatred and violence" as a way of furthering their political objectives, was approved Tuesday in the lower house of Parliament by a vote of 304 to 16. The law is also expected to pass the Senate later this month.\nIt is a key part of the government's battle against ETA -- the Basque acronym for Basque Homeland and Freedom -- an organization classified as terrorist by Spain, the United States and the European Union.\nPrime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's stated aim of banning a Basque-based coalition known as Batasuna, widely viewed as ETA's political wing, has raised fears among many Basques that the government's real goal is to delegitimize the nonviolent advocacy of self-determination.\nIn Brussels, Belgium, Aznar told reporters that the legislative consensus "that a party which backs terrorists, which is complicit with terrorists and which sustains terrorists should be outlawed is an impeccable expression of democracy"