SPAIN: The peace process that began almost exactly three months ago when the Basque separatist movement Eta declared a "permanent" ceasefire having held firm, the Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero yesterday announced he was authorising the start of a dialogue with the terrorist group.
He made his announcement in parliament. He stressed that the talks would only take place within the framework of the constitution and maximum respect for the victims of terrorism and their families.
Mr Zapatero called on all political parties to support the peace process to bring an end to 30 years of violence that have cost more than 700 lives. "It will require great effort from all political groups," he said, repeating a warning he made in March: "The path ahead will be long, hard and difficult."
Mr Zapatero remembered, and praised, the previous attempts to negotiate a settlement under the socialist government of Felipe Gonzalez, who authorised talks in Algeria, and that of José Maria Aznar, whose envoys met etarras in Switzerland in 1999. Mr Zapatero said he believed the current situation was different because, although Eta's ceasefire is only three months old, it comes after three years of comparative peace when there have been no killings.
The prime minister's appeal for consensus was accepted by all parties except the main opposition Popular Party (PP).
It has always rejected the idea of any kind of contact with the terrorists. In previous talks, the government in power has always had the full backing of the opposition parties, but this time it will have to go ahead without the support of the largest opposition party.
Mariano Rajoy, the PP leader, refused to support the government's attempts to broker a peace deal. "We cannot accept any kind of negotiation with a terrorist organisation because that would mean the terrorists have won," he said.
"With Eta we can only discuss the dissolution of Eta, and we will only support government talks if it means their end, but not by giving in to any of their political demands."
Nor, he said, could he agree to talking with the banned Batasuna, Eta's political front. "Batasuna is an illegal party, and it cannot be legalised until Eta lays down its arms and dissolves," he said.
Another complicating factor is the continuing judicial investigation into the extortion and blackmail letters that Eta has traditionally sent to raise funds. In spite of the ceasefire, several Basque businessmen have continued to receive these demands for "revolutionary taxes".
"The state of law must go on. The law has not declared a truce," said Mr Rajoy yesterday.
Examining magistrate Judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska could not agree more. Last weekend he arrested a dozen Eta sympathisers who were allegedly part of the fundraising operations in France and Spain. Gorka Aguirre, a respected member of the moderate Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), was also detained.
Mr Aguirre admitted he had acted as an intermediary on several occasions between Eta and businessmen who had received an extortion letter, but only after the ceasefire declaration. On Wednesday, the judge released him on €30,000 bail and ordered him not to leave the country.
This sum was immediately raised by sympathisers and members of his party. "Everything he has done - meetings and talks with those close to Eta - were always at the request of those who had been threatened. His only objective was to achieve peace in the Basque country," they said in a communique published in Bilbao.