Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said today he was confident the cease-fire by the armed Basque group Eta would be permanent, but warned that the breaking of ties by Spain’s main opposition party with the government over the peace process did not augur well.

A ceasefire that ended nearly four decades of bombings and assasinations by Basque separatist group ETA came into force today, ushering in a new era of hope for Spain.

Thousands of supporters of an outlawed Basque party staged a rally in Bilbao today to press for the party’s inclusion in proposed talks on ending the decades-old conflict in the troubled northern region of Spain.

The Basque region’s most prominent pro-independence militant was indicted today on charges of belonging to the armed Basque separatist group ETA.

A leading Basque separatist said today the Spanish government’s carrot and stick approach to the troubled region would not bring peace.

The head of an outlawed pro-independence Basque party who was released yesterday from a Madrid jail on bail has said that his imprisonment would not affect peace efforts in the northern troubled Basque region.

The Basque parliament has approved a proposal for virtual independence from Spain, with last-minute support from a formerly-banned party seen as the political wing of the separatist group ETA.

The Basque parliament tonight approved a proposal for virtual independence from Spain, with last-minute support from a formerly banned party seen as the political wing of the separatist group ETA.

Basque MPs gathered today to vote on a hotly-contested plan that would turn their troubled region into a virtually sovereign state – the stiffest challenge to the Spanish government since the Basque country gained broad autonomy 25 years ago.

Daily life ground to a halt across Spain today as the grieving nation observed a period of solemn silence to honour the 198 people killed in the Madrid train massacre

Spaniards fell silent today in protest at the latest killing blamed on Basque terrorists – a police chief who was also a peace activist in a town governed by Eta’s political wing.

Sinn Fein was today under pressure from unionists to state whether it had kept its links to the outlawed political wing of the Basque terrorist organisation Eta.

Hundreds of people carrying Basque flags assembled peacefully in the historic Spanish town of Gernika to protest the proposed outlawing of a separatist party allegedly linked to terrorism.

A Spanish judge today shut down a Basque political party on the grounds that it supports the armed separatist group Eta.

THE Basque separatist group Eta has defended a car bombing that killed two people, including a six-year-old girl.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble is to hold crisis peace process talks with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern today in Dublin.