Eta 'ends attacks' on politicians

Eta has spent four decades fighting for a Basque homeland

The Basque militant group Eta has said it will no longer attack Spanish politicians, in a statement reported by the Basque newspaper, Gara.

The group said it has closed its "front" against politicians because of changes in the political climate.

Madrid has offered to negotiate with Eta if it lays down its weapons.

The militants, who are blamed for some 800 deaths in their 40-year fight for an independent Basque nation, say they are ready to talk but not to disarm.

A statement issued by the group on Friday stressed that the right to self-determination would have to be central to any peace process.

Protests

Eta's latest statement, issued on Saturday, said it was waiting for the Spanish and French authorities to "respond positively to the will" it had displayed.

The militants' planned Basque homeland encompasses areas of northern Spain and south-western France.

Over the past two years, it has carried out several small attacks without causing any deaths.

Some 250,000 people marched in Madrid earlier in June to protest at Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's offer to negotiate with the militant separatists.