A Spanish regional politician said today he had met leaders of the outlawed Basque separatist group ETA to try to secure a truce, drawing a sharp rebuke from Madrid.
Mr Josep-Lluis Carod-Rovira, the second ranking official in the Catalonia regional government, said he had seen an opportunity for a truce in ETA's violent campaign for independence. It was not clear when the meeting took place and no agreement was reached.
Contact between mainstream political parties and ETA is rare, and any party that makes contact risks being called soft on "terrorism". Interior Minister Angel Acebes called Mr Carod's contact "intolerable" and "immoral".
Mr Carod said he met ETA in his capacity as leader of the Republican Left of Catalonia party, which helped the Socialist party, in opposition in Madrid, form a Catalan government after elections in November.
Mr Carod made a reference to reporters that "years had passed" since the meeting
but the party's website said the meeting had taken place "recently" as had been reported in the newspaper ABC."
ABC said Mr Carod met the ETA leadership after he became a power broker in Catalonia with his party's surprisingly strong finish in November.
"The contact was made at the initiative of ETA...and took place at a time when, not just in the Basque Country but also in Catalonia and in the whole (Spanish) state, there was hope that ETA might declare a truce," Mr Carod told reporters.
"It seemed to me irresponsible not to accept the possibility that by talking we could achieve peace," said Mr Carod, whose party seeks Catalan independence through non-violent means.