Let’s talk

Madrid

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Zapatero said this week he’s willing to start peace talks with Basque separatists. Two months ago, the Basque separatist group ETA, which has committed dozens of acts of terrorism in its decades-long quest for Basque independence, renounced violence. Its last fatal attack was in 2003, when a car bomb killed two policemen. Zapatero said talks can begin as soon as ETA proves it has relinquished all its weapons. Spain’s main opposition party, though, protested the overture. “The country is being blackmailed by a band of terrorists,” said Angel Acebes, head of the Popular Party, “and the prime minister should not tolerate that.”