Basque separatists ETA call permanent ceasefire

MADRID, (Reuters) – Basque separatist group ETA  called a permanent ceasefire today, Basque regional  newspaper Gara said on its website, three months after the  weakened group announced a halt to armed attacks.
The group, which has killed more than 850 people in half a  century of armed struggle for an independent state in northern  Spain and southwest France, has been crippled by arrests and a  rise in support among Basques for legal politics.
“ETA has decided to declare a permanent and general  cease-fire which will be verifiable by the international  community,” the group said in an English-language statement on  www.gara.net.
“This is ETA’s firm commitment toward a process to achieve a  lasting resolution and towards an end to the armed  confrontation,” the statement said.
A spokeswoman for Spain’s interior ministry said the  government would comment later in the day.