Aznar calls on Vatican to discipline bishops

The Spanish government has called on the Vatican to discipline three Basque bishops over their pastoral letter urging dialogue rather than repression to solve Spain's separatist conflict.

The Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, described the bishops' declaration as "a grave moral and intellectual perversion" yesterday. It was his first comment in a bitter argument that threatens to cause a crisis in relations with the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

The bishops of San Sebastian, Vitoria and Bilbao warned last week that plans by the government to ban the pro-separatist Batasuna party would produce more confrontation. They urged all parties to soften their rigid positions; in particular, Eta prisoners should be brought nearer home "as a humanitarian gesture". The government was furious. The Foreign Minister, Josep Pique, summoned the Papal Nuncio to express the government's "disgust and unease".

The leader of Spain's ruling Popular Party in the Basque country, Carlos Iturgaiz, condemned the bishops' letter as absurd. "The bishops are closer to the executioners than their victims," he said.

Other government spokesmen expressed their "stupefaction" to the Bishops' Conference, who said it was nothing to do with them.

But the Basque Nationalist leader of the region, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, defended the bishops. "What they said only reflects what the majority of Basque people think," he said.