SPAIN:Batasuna, a Basque political party banned for its links to Eta, called on the armed separatists to return to a nine-month ceasefire yesterday, nine days after a powerful Eta bomb killed two people at a Madrid airport.
Batasuna is considered Eta's political wing, though there is no formal link, and yesterday's comments added to evidence of what appeared to be a break between the two.
"We want to call on Eta to keep to the commitments and objectives it set in its statement of March 22 (when it declared a 'permanent ceasefire')," Batasuna leader Arnaldo Otegi told reporters in San Sebastian.
Eta has not officially claimed responsibility for the bomb, which ripped apart a carpark at Barajas International airport on December 30th, but one of the warning calls was made in the name of Eta.
The guerrillas did not make a formal statement breaking the ceasefire, as they have done on previous occasions, and Batasuna officials in recent days expressed surprise at the attack.
Media and analysts have since speculated that the bomb may have been planted by a splinter group.
Batasuna has distanced itself from Eta's attacks, but has stopped short of condemning its violence, a prerequisite for the party to be made legal and take part in elections again.
Three hooded Eta members appeared on television in March and declared a truce which they said they hoped would "drive the democratic process in the Basque country in order to construct a new framework in which our rights as a people will be recognised".
Batasuna and Eta have long fought for independence for the Basque Country, seven provinces in northern Spain and southwest France. Eta began its violent campaign under the Franco dictatorship, when Basque language and culture were suppressed. The Spanish region known as the Basque Country, made up of three provinces, now has a high degree of autonomy. - (AP)