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Spain debates ETA cease-fireBy Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman RELATEDYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
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Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions. MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spain's prime minister and the opposition leader on Tuesday held their first face-to-face talks on the Basque separatist group ETA's declaration of a "permanent" cease-fire last week. They were aiming to achieve a consensus on how to broker a lasting peace, despite their often bitter political disputes. "I think the meeting has been a good first step. But after nearly two years of notable differences, all Spaniards will understand that we have much work ahead," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told reporters after the nearly three-hour meeting at his office. "I have offered my support to the government," said Mariano Rajoy, leader of the opposition conservative Popular Party, which initially criticized ETA's cease-fire as not going far enough. "The only priority is to confirm ETA's willingness to lay down its arms." ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its 37-year-fight for Basque independence, but the cease-fire, announced last Wednesday and which took effect last Friday, has raised hopes across Spain for an end to the violence. Rajoy, who appeared alone just before Zapatero in the government briefing room after their meeting, said the "most relevant" part of the meeting was when Zapatero insisted that he had not made a "commitment to anyone," an apparent reference to alleged prior backroom talks or deals with ETA before the cease-fire was announced. Rajoy reiterated his party's stance that the government must not pay a "political price" to win a lasting peace with ETA. Zapatero, a Socialist who has repeatedly clashed with Rajoy and his conservatives, said "the tone of the conversation was positive," which he noted as the "most important" aspect of the meeting. Zapatero next plans to meet with the Basque regional government president, Juan Jose Ibarrexte, of the moderate Basque Nationalist Party, and then hold talks with leaders of the other political parties that hold seats in Spanish parliament. "We're facing a long and difficult process. But that process will be much more efficient, and will get the results we all want, and faster, if there's a minimum common denominator among the political forces and especially with the (conservative) Popular Party," Zapatero said. Zapatero said last week that if the government verifies that ETA is fully respecting the cease-fire, then he would go to parliament before the summer to seek authorization to hold talks with ETA. Last year, Zapatero won backing in Parliament, despite the opposition of Rajoy's conservatives, to hold talks if ETA would first renounce violence and lay down its arms. The meeting between Zapatero and Rajoy came as Spain's King Juan Carlos was on an official visit to France - ETA's traditional rearguard - where he thanked French President Jacques Chirac for France's support in the "tough and long challenge" of battling ETA. Analysts say the police crackdown in recent years in Spain and in France has helped push ETA to the point of a cease-fire. There are about 500 ETA prisoners in Spanish jails and an estimated 140 to 150 others in France jails, sources tell CNN. ETA -- which stands for Basque Homeland and Liberty in the ancient Basque language - wants an independent homeland that would comprise four provinces with Basque traditions in Spain and also a portion of southwest France. But Spain, France and the European Union have all said they don't want an independent Basque state, and ETA is classified as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States. On Monday, Basque regional police arrested two ETA suspects, the first such arrests since the cease-fire went into effect. On Wednesday, the leader of the outlawed Batasuna party -- widely considered to be ETA's political wing, which it denies -- is expected in court in Madrid, where the prosecutor has asked that he be jailed for allegedly inciting violence recently during a Basque protest over the deaths of two ETA prisoners in jail. Zapatero and Rajoy both mentioned Tuesday that the state of law continues to function, even with ETA's cease-fire in effect. 
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