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Eta allies: Peace talks not over | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The political wing of the Basque separatist group Eta says peace talks with the Spanish government are not over, despite Saturday's bomb blast. | |
A Batasuna spokesman, Xabi Larralde, said the peace process "is not broken". The group - outlawed in Spain - gave a news conference in Bayonne, France. | |
Earlier, Spain's government said peace talks with Eta were now "finished". | |
Two Ecuadoreans are still missing in the rubble of a multi-storey car park blown up at Madrid's Barajas airport. | |
Mr Larralde said the peace process was at a "critical" phase but "our commitment is for it to move forward". | |
Batasuna has urged Eta militants to explain why they bombed Barajas airport. | |
"It was not expected by anyone, even though we all knew the [peace] process was in crisis", said Batasuna official Joseba Alvarez, speaking on a Basque radio station. | |
Car park demolished | Car park demolished |
The government blamed Eta, which called a "permanent" ceasefire nine months ago. | The government blamed Eta, which called a "permanent" ceasefire nine months ago. |
"Eta has evidently broken off the peace process," Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said. | "Eta has evidently broken off the peace process," Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said. |
Eta declared a permanent ceasefire on 22 March 2006. The group has been waging an armed campaign for more than 30 years and is blamed for more than 800 deaths. | |
Mr Alvarez accused Spain's Socialist government of failing to take any "concrete steps... to create favourable conditions" for a solution. | |
But he also said the planting of a bomb without previously announcing the end of a ceasefire was "something new" for Eta. | But he also said the planting of a bomb without previously announcing the end of a ceasefire was "something new" for Eta. |
"It is up to Eta to explain why it acted in that way," he said. | "It is up to Eta to explain why it acted in that way," he said. |
Authorities say it will take several days to clear an estimated 40,000 tons of concrete, under which about 400 cars are thought to be buried. | Authorities say it will take several days to clear an estimated 40,000 tons of concrete, under which about 400 cars are thought to be buried. |
Madrid's mayor said on Tuesday crews were trying to find the car in which the Ecuadoreans were sleeping, and the van in which the bomb was planted, as quickly as possible without destroying evidence and jeopardising the criminal investigation. | Madrid's mayor said on Tuesday crews were trying to find the car in which the Ecuadoreans were sleeping, and the van in which the bomb was planted, as quickly as possible without destroying evidence and jeopardising the criminal investigation. |