http//news.bbc.co.uk
Eta 'calls permanent ceasefire'
"The Basque separatist group Eta has declared a permanent ceasefire, according to reports on Basque radio.
The group has been fighting for independence for the Basque region of northern Spain and south-west France for nearly four decades.
It is blamed for killing more than 800 people in that time, many of them Spanish police, judges and politicians.
Eta said its objective now was "to start a new democratic process in the Basque country".
The authenticity of the announcement - which said the ceasefire would begin on Friday 24 March - could not immediately be verified.
It was made first on Basque radio and TV outlets in Spain, and then carried by the Basque newspaper Gara, the usual vehicle for Eta statements.
The group's activities have been waning, with the number of bombings falling in recent years. The last deadly Eta attack was in May 2003. In the 1970s Eta attacks killed 100 people or more every year."
A GREAT DAY FOR SPAIN.
