Chronology of the armed Basque group ETA

Following is a chronology of the armed Basque group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA):

1959 - ETA, or Basque Homeland and Freedom, founded during dictatorship of General Francisco Franco to fight for Basque self-determination.

1968 - ETA carries out first planned killing: victim is Meliton Manzanas, police chief in Basque city of Donostia-San Sebastian.

1973 - Franco's Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco killed when car passes over explosives planted by ETA in Madrid.

1980 - ETA's bloodiest year, nearly 100 killed, despite Spain's recent return to democracy.

Sept 1985 - First ETA car bomb in Madrid. American tourist killed while jogging, 16 Civil Guards wounded.

June 1987 - ETA's bloodiest attack so far - 21 shoppers killed when bomb hits Barcelona supermarket. ETA apologises for "mistake".

April 1995 - Popular Party opposition leader Jose Maria Aznar, later to become prime minister, is target of ETA car bomb. Saved by vehicle's armour plating.

Sept 1998 - ETA announces truce.

June 1999 - Government says it held talks with ETA.

Nov 28 - ETA announces ceasefire to end on Dec 3.

Nov 21, 2000 - Former Socialist health minister Ernest Lluch shot dead in Barcelona. Nearly a million demonstrate.

Dec 24, 2003 - Police say they foil an attempt by ETA to blow up a train in a main Madrid station on Christmas Eve.

Oct 10 - New socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero appeals to ETA to give up the fight following the arrest of its suspected leader. ETA was dealt a "harsh blow" by the arrest of 21 ETA suspects including alleged leader Mikel Albisu Iriarte, alias "Mikel Antza".

May 6 - Spain's High Court sentences two ETA members to 2,775 years each in prison for the Christmas 2003 plot to plant bombs on a Madrid-bound train.

May 17 - Spain's parliament gives the government permission to open peace talks with ETA if the group lays down its arms.

March 20 - ETA claims responsibility for nine attacks in Spain between February and March.

March 22 - ETA declares a permanent cease-fire.

March 24 - ETA permanent ceasefire came into force.

June 29 - Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero tells parliament he would seek to start peace talks with ETA.

Dec 30 - Car bomb explodes in a parking lot at Madrid's international airport and an anonymous caller claimed ETA was responsible.