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Catalan crisis rekindled

Reuters, Madrid
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Parliament proposes Puigdemont as candidate for president; Spanish court refuses to re-issue warrant for his arrest
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The Catalan parliament yesterday proposed Carles Puigdemont as candidate for president, dealing a blow to central government efforts to derail an independence movement that has plunged Spain into political crisis.
As the legislature's speaker named Puigdemont as the sole candidate for a position he was fired from in October, Spain's legal system sought to tighten its net around him.
The state prosecutor in Madrid requested the reactivation of a European arrest warrant to detain him on charges of sedition and rebellion in Copenhagen, where Puigdemont touched down earlier yesterday on his first trip away from Belgium in three months of self-imposed exile.
Spain's Supreme Court rejected the state prosecutor's demand to reactivate the arrest warrant until the Catalan parliament is restored to normal activity.
Puigdemont fled to Brussels in October after Spain's central govern-
ment sacked him for spearheading an independence drive that culminated in an illegal referendum and a unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament.
He became the top candidate to lead the region again after regional elections last month, called by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, that
gave secessionists a majority.
"I confirm that the only candidate that has been proposed is Mr. Carles Puigdemont," said Roger Torrent, the newly-elected separatist speaker at the Catalan parliament.
"I am conscious of the warnings that weigh upon him, but I am also conscious of his absolute legitimacy to be candi-
date," said Torrent, calling for dialogue with Madrid to resolve the situation.
Puigdemont argues he could govern the region from exile abroad, an option that Rajoy has ruled out.
A Reuters reporter saw Puigdemont come through customs at Copenhagen airport a little after 0700 GMT and, without being detained, get in a car and leave.
It was not clear where Puigdemont was headed. He is billed to appear at the University of Copenhagen at 2:00 pm for a debate on the political situation in Catalonia.
According the Danish parliament's diary, he has also been invited to a meeting there today by Magni Arge, a deputy representing the Faroe Islands, which have their own independence movement seeking secession from Denmark.
After weeks of uneasy calm, the political crisis triggered by Catalonia's independence drive flared up again last week when the new regional parliament elected Torrent as speaker at its first sitting.