Half a century of bloodshed in Spain's northern Basque country has come to a historic close after armed separatist group Eta finally renounced the use of arms and sought talks with the Spanish and French governments. The announcement that one of Europe's bloodiest groups was calling a final stop to the use of bombs and bullets was made by three masked leaders of the group in a video on the website of the Basque Gara newspaper.
"Eta has decided the definitive cessation of its armed activity," they said. Eta was following a peace script put together with the help of mediators led by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan after a year in which it had observed a unilateral ceasefire.