Madrid rejects Eta's offer of talks

As Basques prepare for regional elections in a fortnight, Eta separatists seized the initiative at the weekend with a demand for talks. But Spain's Socialist government said it would heed only a promise to lay down arms.

As Basques prepare for regional elections in a fortnight, Eta separatists seized the initiative at the weekend with a demand for talks. But Spain's Socialist government said it would heed only a promise to lay down arms.

"We are trying to open the path towards negotiation with the government...Spain is on the threshold of political change," an Eta spokesman told the Basque cultural daily, Berria, on Saturday, the day after campaigning began.

Madrid's ruling socialists restated the government's position: "Eta terrorists cannot seek to negotiate anything with the government; the only thing we want them to say is that they'll abandon arms," the party's International Secretary, Trinidad Jimenez said.

Commentators yesterday interpreted Eta's appeal as a gesture to attract attention during campaigning. "Their strategy is that of the carrot and the stick: negotiate or I'll kill you," was how one respected critic put it.

Eta's proposal for talks coincided with revelations in the organisation's latest internal bulletin, Zutabe, that armed actions would continue.

"While the rights of a Basque Homeland are denied, and defending them is punished by prison and death... it is logical that those wanting to prolong the conflict, and those responsible for it, should suffer the direct consequences of confrontation," the bulletin said.

Eta's double-edged message cut across hectic bobbing and weaving over candidates' election lists. Batasuna, the party considered Eta's political wing, is banned and cannot stand.

The pro-independence Aukera Guztiak (All Options) list that Batasuna hoped to support was banned on Friday. Spain's Constitutional Court ruled that AG was "a continuation of Batasuna, and obeys Eta's orders."

Then the little-known Communist Party of the Basque Lands (PCTV) - whose candidates' lists are approved - announced that it shared AG's electoral principles. Batasuna (which operates relatively openly despite its illegal status) will now decide whether its supporters should vote for the PCTV.

Mariano Rajoy, leader of the conservative Popular Party, called on Saturday for the Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to ban the PCTV "because it is Eta". But the Justice Minister, Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, refused: "That would lead to the absurd conclusion that perfectly democratic parties must be put under suspicion simply because Batasuna might urge people to vote for them."

Eta is much weakened. Dozens of top leaders have been detained in recent police raids, and hundreds of Eta prisoners have grown weary of the struggle. Eta's social buffer and recruiting ground, Batasuna - which usually wins some 10 per cent of the Basque vote - risks annihilation if no one can vote for it. But Eta planted a huge car bomb in Madrid in February on the day King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia opened an international art fair.

Last month police discovered an Eta cell in San Sebastian armed and ready for action. Eta has carried out low-intensity violence but killed no one for nearly two years.

Eta wants to talk, but for the government to make the first move to help it in from the cold. The government wants Eta to blink first, by renouncing violence.

The main election issue, meanwhile, seems barely remembered: the conservative Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the region's outgoing government, seeks backing for its ambitious sovereignty plan, in which the Basque Country would enjoy free association with Spain.

The PNV's leader, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, said such a political solution was essential to end decades of conflict. Mr Zapatero, and Spain's parliament, rejected the plan as unconstitutional. But polls predict the Basque Nationalists could turn their relative majority into an absolute one, and force Mr Zapatero to make concessions.