The Spanish government has reportedly rejected the latest statement by the Basque separatist group Eta that it is ready for a permanent ceasefire.
Officials told Spanish media that the government was still waiting for the outlawed group to renounce all violence.
Two Eta members had said in a newspaper interview that Eta was prepared to make its current ceasefire permanent.
The armed group had declared a unilateral ceasefire on September 5.
Two unnamed and masked Eta members told the Basque newspaper Gara yesterday that the group was ready to “go one step further” and enter a dialogue on ending the conflict if the right “conditions” were created.
However, a Spanish Interior Ministry told the El Mundo newspaper that Eta’s statements and interviews were “a waste of time” and that the government was waiting for the Eta to “denounce violence permanently”.
Earlier this month, Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said Eta had broken too many ceasefires to be trusted.
Eta’s campaign for independence from Spain has cost more than 800 lives since 1968.
The BBC’s Phil Minshull in Madrid says the group has come under pressure from its political wing Batasuna to show willingness to give up violence. (BBC)
