Outlawed Batasuna urges ETA to keep cease-fire commitments intact

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Arnaldo Otegi, leader of the outlawed Batasuna party

In an unusual move, a leading pro-independent militant called on the armed Basque group ETA on Monday to maintain a cease-fire apparently broken by a massive car bombing last week in Madrid that killed two Ecuadorians.

The call came as hundreds of people in the Spanish capital staged a silent protest in memory of the two immigrants. Arnaldo Otegi, leader of the outlawed Batasuna party, urged ETA "to keep intact the commitments and objectives stated in its March 22'' cease-fire announcement. He also asked both the government and ETA to resume contacts.

"Political dialogue has to be developed ... in the absence of any kind of violence,'' he added. Batasuna has never called on to ETA to halt its attacks. Last week party members said they were surprised by the Madrid bombing and offered condolences to the blast victims in an exceptional gesture.

Attack at Madrid airport

A car bomb at Madrid's international airport on Dec. 30 killed Carlos Alonso Palate and Diego Armando Estacio and ended a nine-month cease-fire that separatist group ETA had said would be permanent. Both immigrants died in the blast as they slept in cars at the airport car park.

Batasuna is considered ETA's political wing, though there is no formal link, and Monday'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 the Basque city of Donostia-San Sebastian.

No official claim of responsibility

ETA has not officially claimed responsibility for the bomb which ripped apart a carpark at Barajas International airport on Dec. 30, but one of the warning calls was made in the name of ETA.

The armed band 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 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.

Cease-fire declaration

Three hooded ETA members appeared on television in March and declared a truce which 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 campaign under the Franco dictatorship when Basque language and culture were supressed. The region within the Spanish State known as the Basque Country, made up of three of the seven provinces, now has a high degree of autonomy.

Since the bomb, the Madrid government has called an end to the Basque peace process, and police in the northern region have found more stashes of explosives.

Polls published on Monday showed Spain's ruling Socialist party and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who staked considerable political capital on the Basque peace process, had lost ground among voters since the attack. A poll in the right-wing paper El Mundo showed Zapatero's approval rating drop to 51 percent from 55 percent last month while support for opposition leader Mariano Rajoy rose to 49 percent from 48 percent.