Basque separatist guerrillas Eta called for a peace process in a letter published in a Basque newspaper today in which it also claimed responsibility for nine attacks in Spain.
Newspaper Garaquoted the group, which has killed about 850 people in its four-decade campaign for independence, as saying a solution to the conflict was possible "here and now".
However, it said it would continue fighting until Basque rights were respected.
“It is essential to open a democratic process without limits and involving all. Eta is totally prepared to become involved in such a process,” the paper quoted the group as saying.
The letter comes after a string of mainly small guerrilla attacks and a controversial motion supported in parliament that the government would talk to ETA if it laid down its arms.
The group, which has not killed anyone for two years, claimed responsibility for nine attacks and said it would keep fighting as long as Spain denied the Basques their rights.
The group, which has been weakened in recent years by dozens of arrests of alleged leaders and other members, wants a Basque homeland carved out of northern Spain and southwest France.