Peace process 'in crisis' ETA says

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- The Basque separatist group ETA is warning that the fledgling peace process is in "crisis" five months after ETA declared a cease-fire and said it "will respond" if Spain and France do not stop what it called "their attacks on Basque citizens."

The statement Friday was published in the Basque newspaper Gara, where ETA -- blamed for more than 800 deaths -- typically makes its announcements.

The warning came seven weeks after Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in parliament that the government would hold talks with ETA, aiming to secure a lasting peace after nearly 40 years of violence.

Zapatero is on vacation and there was no immediate public reaction from the government, although the statement was the top news story across Spain.

A leading radio network, SER, said it was the first ETA statement with negative implications since ETA announced its cease-fire March 22.

Since that time, Zapatero has said the government verified that ETA was sticking to its cease-fire and that led him to make a June 29 announcement in parliament that "the government will start dialogue with ETA."

But that same day, he cautioned that the process would be "long, tough and difficult" and the government would proceed with "prudence and discretion."

Government officials have told CNN that the initial talks were expected to be held secretly at an undisclosed location during the summer, but the government has not revealed if direct talks have happened yet.

So it was not immediately clear if ETA's statement Friday was response to an initial round of talks or a warning ahead of those talks.

In its statement, ETA said the peace process is in an "evident situation of crisis" and blamed that on the governments of Spain and France, for what it termed their "repression" and "continuous attacks" against the Basques.

Police have continued to make arrests of ETA suspects and trials have continued against ETA defendants since ETA's cease-fire began. Zapatero has said that the state of law must continue to function.

ETA also blamed Spain's ruling Socialist Party and the Basque regional government's ruling Basque Nationalist Party. It said the two parties had "not responded in accord with their responsibility" and said the Socialists, which Zapatero leads, were trying to use the peace process "as a mere instrument to remain in power."

ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths and thousands of injuries in its nearly 40-year campaign for an independent Basque country that would be carved out of a section of northern Spain and southwestern France.

Its March announcement of a "permanent" cease-fire has raised hopes across Spain for an end to the violence, but also fears that the government could make political concessions to ETA.

Polls show a majority of Spaniards favor talks between the Socialist government and ETA, but the main opposition conservative Popular Party and many of ETA's victims are staunchly opposed, arguing that a democratic government should not negotiate with terrorists.

In its statement Friday, ETA also reiterated its commitment to the goals it set in its March cease-fire announcement, stating then that it wanted a "democratic process" in the Basque country to "build a new framework." It also said that "at the end of the process, the Basque citizens should have the decision on their future."

Zapatero has said that the political issues will be resolved by legitimate political parties.

In a radio interview in late May, he said that the talks would focus on ETA "definitively laying down its arms, disbanding as an organization, and logically, about the future of its members."

Some analysts suggest that could mean the government would be willing to move some of approximately 490 ETA prisoners in jails spread across Spain to prisons closer to their native Basque region in the north.

And that there might eventually be leniency for ETA prisoners not linked to the most serious crimes, like murder.

But Zapatero has not talked publicly about ceding more political power to the northern Basque region, which already has its own regional parliament, police force, tax collection power and control of health and education.

Opponents of the negotiations say the government should simply use police crackdowns and the courts, backed by political party unity, to finish off ETA.

But proponents say that despite such efforts, ETA has continued its violence over the years, always regrouping after crackdowns, and that peace talks are the best chance of permanently ending the violence.

ETA is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union. It has not killed anyone for three years, since May 2003, although its bombings that caused property damage and some injuries continued until the cease-fire announcement in March.

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