The armed Basque separatist group ETA said yesterday that it was ending the "permanent" ceasefire declared in March last year, accusing Spain of trying to persecute the group rather than negotiate with it.
"The minimum conditions have not been met to continue the process of negotiations" with Spain's Socialist government, the group said in a statement sent to the Basque newspaper Berria.
Beginning today ETA said it "will defend Euskal Herria [the land of Basque speakers] with arms on all fronts."
"It is without a doubt bad news, we must live with this reality and we must work from this base," Economy Minister Pedro Solbes said in Brussels in comments broadcast on private radio Cadena Ser, in the government's first reaction to ETA's declaration.
ETA had up until now insisted that the ceasefire was still in place even though it claimed responsibility for a bombing at a Madrid airport carpark on Dec. 30 that killed two Ecuadoran men.
In its statement, ETA justified its move by saying the Spanish government had "responded to the ceasefire by pursuing detentions, torture and persecution."
El Pais reported on Monday that ETA is planning an "imminent" attack, quoting police sources.
"The police, the civil guard and the CNI [intelligence service] agree on the fact that ETA is preparing a terrorist action in the short term," wrote the newspaper, which has close ties to the government.
ETA's move may boost the opposition People's Party, which has sharply criticized Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government for pursuing talks with ETA.
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