BREAKING NEWS: CNN is saying that the Basque terrorist group ETA has announced a permanent ceasefire. Still no links. Well, last time, at the end of the 90s, the truce revealed itself as a kind of hudna, that is, a time to regroup and re-arm when they were particularly weak. As they are now. This is why it was so absurd for Zapatero to negotiate with them under the table. Let's see what Mr Appeaser may have given them.

UPDATE. Link here; many more at Google News.

UPDATE II. Well, I'm looking for the translation of the communique into English; from what I've seen in Spanish, ETA's ceasefire is contingent to their claims for an independent Basque country is met, and this is going to be difficult. What they are doing is to say they'll stop the violence as long as a negotiation towards that end is started, which implicitly means they can go back to killing is they're not satisfied. The conclusion is that they're still using violence, or the threat of violence, a part of the political process. Doesn't sound like the end of ETA to me. That would be if they had announced they regret all they've done in the past, asked for the victims' forgiveness, and turned in all their weapons.

UPDATE III. Here's the full text of ETA's statement.

Click here to send me an email