The spokesman Arnaldo Otegi asked for the people of the Basque country to respect the decision made last March 22nd to form a peaceful resolution to the Basque country's problems.

He made the surprise gesture towards peace after a meeting with the Chair of the regional administration Juan Jose Ibarretxe.

Otegi expressed concern that although the peace had remained, security forces were still interviewing suspects.

 The peace process which is now just under a month old was brokered by the Spanish leader Zapetero with help from Ibarretxe.

Although the death rate from ETA over the last ten years is less than that on the Spanish roads every month, ETA has become synonimous with fear in the Spanish minds.