SPAIN: The armed Basque separatist group Eta is expected to call a ceasefire within three months after secret, indirect negotiations, with the Spanish government, according to press reports yesterday.
The newspaper El Mundo quoted unnamed sources as saying that a date for a ceasefire was "practically fixed", and only a change of heart by Eta would prevent a deal.
El Mundo said intelligence service sources had told it that the talks advanced considerably last month. The Socialist government of José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero would react to the announcement of a ceasefire by seeking parliamentary permission to negotiate a permanent peace agreement, it added.
The report coincided with another newspaper, El Pais, saying the government was demanding that the outlawed Basque separatist party Batasuna put pressure on Eta to lay down its arms.
A spokesman for Mr Zapatero last night refused to confirm or deny the reports. "We won't be making any comment. The government will carry on with its stated anti-terrorist policy."
Public administration minister Jordi Sevilla also refused to comment directly on the reports but said the government was ready to talk if it won the support of parliament.
"It is important that Spaniards know that this is a government that - within the constitution, within the law, and, more importantly, with the agreement and control of parliament - wants to finish with Eta, end terrorism and normalise . . . the Basque country," he told state television.
Observers said they would not be surprised if a ceasefire deal was close, but suspected it was premature to talk of a timetable.
"The vox populi is that there have been contacts," said Julen de Madariaga, a former Eta leader who is now in a separatist party not linked to the group.
"I don't see why anyone should start saying that there will be a ceasefire within three months. If an agreement is almost ready it would be a mistake to start broadcasting it now."
He added that the news might have been leaked to put pressure on one side or the other.
Four months ago Mr Zapatero gained preliminary permission from the Spanish parliament to open talks with Eta if the group laid down its arms. That brought protests from the opposition People's Party and 250,000 people in Madrid demonstrated against it.
Government officials have reiterated that Mr Zapatero is not prepared to pay a political price for peace, and will only negotiate the future of the hundreds of Eta prisoners now in Spanish jails.
Eta has called ceasefires before, with a 1998 truce lasting 15 months. In recent months it has given out confusing signals. In June it called for a peace process and said it would stop attacking elected Spanish politicians. However a month later it said it would still target members of the government. - (Guardian service)