MADRID, Spain (AP) - Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched Saturday in Madrid to demand the government not hold talks with Basque separatists. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said last month he will seek to open peace talks with ETA after the armed Basque group announced a permanent cease-fire in March. The group is blamed for more than 800 killings since 1968, although its last fatal attack was in 2003 in the violent campaign for a separate Basque homeland.
Zapatero is hoping for now to build on the cease-fire by promoting dialogue between rival political groups within the northern Basque region. The government is not yet holding formal surrender negotiations with ETA.
The demonstrators, including hundreds of survivors of terrorist attacks and relatives of victims, marched under banners that read: "Negotiation, not in my name" and "We want to know the truth." The rally began with a tour of city landmarks scarred by past terrorist attacks as well as the locations where Islamic militants detonated 10 bombs that ripped through four commuter trains in 2004, killing 191 people and injuring more than 1,500. |