Spanish PM to hold ETA talks

MADRID - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero says he will begin peace talks with Basque armed separatists ETA this month, despite opposition protests against negotiations.

Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards allied to the conservative Popular Party (PP) marched against Zapatero's plans on Saturday and demanded ETA lay down guns before talks.

But the prime minister said the majority of Spaniards backed negotiations to end 38 years of ETA violence.

"I'm going to open the process this month," Zapatero told Sunday's La Vanguardia newspaper. "We've got the best conditions ever to end the violence, and I have wide parliamentary support."

Zapatero announced plans to begin peace talks after ETA declared a permanent ceasefire in March.

The armed group is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its four-decade fight for a Basque homeland, but its last deadly attack was three years ago. Analysts say the group's military and financing base has been weakened by arrests of members.

The government thinks it can reach a deal with ETA's supporters in the banned Basque separatist party Batasuna - something previous governments tried and failed to do.

The peace process hit an obstacle on Tuesday when PP leader Mariano Rajoy said his party was withdrawing support for talks until ETA showed its commitment to a lasting ceasefire.

ETA twice broke ceasefires in the 1990s and Spain's former PP government failed to end violence after 1998 ETA talks.

Rajoy backtracked on Friday and said he would discuss the issue with Zapatero, if the prime minister contacted him.

Zapatero said he would try to rebuild PP relations.

"It's what citizens want," he told La Vanguardia.

- REUTERS