A demonstration for Basque independence in Barakaldo, close to the Basque port city of Bilbao, Spain, earlier this year. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza, File)
Roman says hope for peace is in the air.
Roman explains why ETA wants to carve out an independent homeland.
The ETA's fight for independence has affected all of Spain, not just the Basque country, says Roman.

No more bombings, no more bullets.

That's the word from the Basque separatist group ETA, which has been fighting for 40 years for an independent homeland in northern Spain and southwest France, an area known as the Basque country. In a video statement, the ETA announced it "has decided to declare a permanent cease-fire as of March 24, 2006."

"The aim of (the cease-fire) is to promote a democratic process in the Basque country and to build a new framework in which our rights as a people will be recognized," the group said. "ETA also calls on the Spanish and French authorities to respond positively to this new situation, leaving their repressive ways behind."

ETA, which stands for Basque Homeland and Liberty in the Basque language, has been blamed for more than 800 deaths and $15.5 billion in economic damage in Spain since the 1960s. The group mostly targeted security force members, but in the 1990s began killing politicians. It is one of Western Europe's last separatist movements.

The announcement prompted quiet celebrations across Spain. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero expressed some caution about the truce -- ETA has announced cease-fires before, although never a "permanent" one.

Zapatero has been a strong supporter of granting more home-rule to the Basque country, and offered to negotiate with the ETA last year if the group renounced violence.

So is the ETA really giving up its fight, or is this a political ploy?

AP Madrid correspondent Mar Roman spoke to asap from San Sebastian about the cease-fire and what's to come for the Basque region.

___

Is the statement authentic, and does it really signal an end to the violence?

Roman: It's an official statement from ETA. And of course we have to be cautious. They don't actually say they are going to dismantle or anything. They are just saying it's going to be a permanent cease-fire, which in the word "permanent" seems like a definite thing. But we will have to wait. Everyone is still being cautious because in the past, ETA has made other cease-fires, like four, and broken them all. But now the scenario is different. They haven't killed anyone since 2003, so this could be the definite one.

___

ETA has been fighting for 40 years. Why have a cease-fire now?

Roman: Islamic terrorism has a big thing to do with it. They don't want to be compared to Islamic terrorism, which is another much broader phenomenon, and much more dangerous. (Islamic extremists were blamed for the 2004 bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people.) Islamic terrorists don't want to negotiate, they just want to go and kill. These people want to negotiate. They want to achieve a political goal. Also, because probably, they want to turn things more politically. They think now they can negotiate. They will still try to achieve independence -- not all of them -- they will try to do it in a political way. We don't know if they will achieve it in the end. We'll see.

___

What happens now? I know the prime minister has said peace will be a long and difficult process.

Roman: It's going to be a long process. It's not that we're going to see the steps every day; it will probably be weeks before we see another step. The prime minister said yesterday he has to study ETA's statement, and the proposal the congress approved last year saying the Spanish government would negotiate if ETA renounced violence. There's a lot of things going on. This is just the first step.

___

Megan Scott is an asap reporter based in New York.

___

Want to comment? Sound off at soundoffasap@ap.org .

©2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.