ETA declares ceasefire after a 42-year campaign

BASQUE separatist group ETA declared a ceasefire yesterday in its bloody 42-year campaign for a homeland independent of Spain, vowing to give up guns and bombs to seek a democratic solution.

ETA, blamed for the deaths of 829 people in attacks on Spanish targets, said it decided several months ago that it “will not carry out armed offensive actions”. It did not specify if the ceasefire was temporary or permanent.

ETA made the announcement in a video sent to the BBC and pro-independence Basque daily Gara, showing three people in berets and yellow hoods sitting at a table flanked by Basque flags and an ETA symbol on the wall behind.