Socialists warn ETA that they will continue "defending democracy"

Most of the Basque parties condemned ETA's attack against the offices of Spain's governing Socialist party in La Peña district in the Basque city of Bilbao.

Seven police officers working to evacuate residents were injured in the bomb explosion.

A police patrol in the area had already spotted a suspicious package outside the Socialist party building around 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) and had begun evacuating residents from the area.

Thursday's blast caused considerable damage to the party's office and to nearby buildings.

Basque socialist party PSE-EE

Spokesman for the Basque socialist party Rodolfo Ares condemned the attack and said that the Basque socialists will continue defending democracy and freedom in the Basque Country no matter how much damage they receive.

"ETA must know that it will make no political gains with violence, because in a democratic country like Spain, nothing can be gained by violently disrupting democratic and lawful norms,'' the party said in a statement.

Basque nationalist party PNV

PNV leader in Bizkaia Andoni Ortuzar said the PNV took ETA's latest attack as if it had been against a PNV office and called on the Basque leftist party ANV to "express their opinion" and not to "hide behind the excuse of the Basque conflict".

Conservative party PP

PP leader in Bizkaia Antonio Basagotiti condemned ETA's attack and said ETA targets to "subjugate the PSOE by means of fright. He also offered the Spanish PM José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero his support "to eliminate this riffraff".

Basque communist party EB

Julia Madrazo, a spokeswoman for EB in Bilbao rejected the attack and offereed his support to the victims. She accused the armed band of being "a cancer" to achieve peace and asked the so-called Basque leftist organization to ask ETA to "break up as their bombs do".