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The Basque separatist group ETA yesterday said its terrorist campaign would resume 'on all fronts', raising the spectre of a new wave of bombings just as the tourist season takes off.
In a statement to two Basque newspapers, the group said its 15-month-old 'permanent ceasefire' was over.
The
announcement brought immediate condemnation from all political parties and Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, called it a 'mistake'.
In its statement yesterday, ETA said it would be "active on all fronts to defend the Basque homeland".
It raised the possibility of attacks on tourist resorts popular with British holidaymakers or the prospect ETA may try to attack the Americas Cup international yachting regatta, which is nearing its climax in Valencia.
To most Spaniards, however, ETA's bombing of Madrid airport in December, which killed two Ecuadorean immigrants, effectively put an end to the original truce declared in March last year.
ETA blamed the Spanish government and singled out Mr Zapatero for the failure of a peace process which once raised hopes of an end to nearly 40 years of terrorist violence.
"'Zapatero's character has turned into a fascism that left parties and citizens without rights," said the statement to the pro-independence newspapers ITALBerria and GaraTNX.
The government had feared ETA would resume its armed struggle after months of deteriorating negotiations between Madrid and the terrorists, followed by the airport bombing.
But when Batasuna, ETA's political wing, and other parties linked to the separatist movement were banned from taking part in local elections in May, the separatists said "minimum democratic conditions for a negotiating process do not exist".
ETA also claimed the Spanish security services continued to crack down on its members despite the supposed cease-fire.
In the past, the separatist group had suggested the government was committed to going easy on the pro-independence movement while negotiations were under way.
In response to ETA's declaration, Mr Zapatero said: "Today, Eta has made the same decision as other times in the past.
And now, like then, Eta is once again mistaken.
"Eta's decision is radically opposed to the path sought by the Basques and by Spanish society as a whole, the path towards peace.
"A path which has only one end, that of Eta giving up its weapons.
A path which can only be taken and travelled with a complete renunciation of violence." A report in the Spanish daily El Pais on Tuesday claimed security services warned the Basque separatist organisation was poised to resume attacks.
Observers believe an attack could be imminent and security services were last night on high alert.
When ETA declared its 'permanent ceasefire' last year, it said it wanted to end the conflict, which has claimed more than 800 lives.
Mr. Zapatero said last year his government would negotiate with ETA, earning the wrath of the conservative opposition, who accused him of giving in to terrorism.
The two sides met a number of times in secret talks abroad, but made no progress.
Over the past few months, signs have been growing that ETA was re-arming, particularly after hundreds of firearms were stolen by activists from an arms factory in France and reports that it had started its extortion campaign demanding a 'revolutionary tax' from Basque businesses.
In March, police arrested about a dozen suspects believed to be part of a newly formed ETA cell.
- INDEPENDENT