Here is a timeline of some major events since the founding of Eta, whose initials stand for Euskadi ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom).
1959– Eta is formed during dictatorship of General Franco to fight for Basque self-determination.
1968– Eta carries out first killing: the victim is Meliton Manzanas, police chief in the Basque city of San Sebastian.
1973– Francos prime minister Luís Carrero Blanco is killed when his car drives over explosives planted by Eta in Madrid.
1980– In its bloodiest year, ETA kills nearly 100 people despite Spains return to democracy.
Sept 1985– First Eta car bomb explodes in Madrid. A US tourist is killed and 16 civil guards wounded.
July 1986– Twelve civil guards are killed in Madrid and 50 wounded. Juan Manuel Soares, a repentant Basque separatist, is sentenced to 1,401 years in jail in April 2000 for the killings.
June 1987– Twenty-one shoppers are killed by a bomb at a Barcelona supermarket. Eta apologises.
July 1997– Eta kidnaps and kills Popular Party member and Ermua town councillor Miguel Angel Blanco.
Sept 1998– Eta announces a truce, which ends in December 1999.
Nov 21st, 2000– Socialist former health minister Ernest Lluch shot dead in Barcelona.
Oct 10th, 2004– New Socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero appeals to Eta to give up the fight after the arrest of a suspected leader.
March 22nd, 2006– Eta declares a permanent ceasefire, which comes into force two days later.
Dec 30th, 2006– Car bomb explodes at Madrid airport killing two Ecuadorians. Zapatero breaks off peace process.
Dec 1st, 2007– Eta suspects kill two Guardia Civil policemen working undercover in France.
Jan 14th, 2008– Zapatero rules out any chance of peace talks with Eta and says its only option is unilateral surrender.
March 7th– Isaias Carrasco, former councillor for the Socialist Party, is killed in Mondragon. Eta later claims responsibility.
Nov 5th– Eta claims responsibility for 10 bombings and says it will press its campaign for Basque rights.
Nov 1st– Eta's suspected military leader, Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, known by aliases "Txeroki" or "Cherokee", is arrested in Frances Pyrenean region, near the Spanish border.
Dec 3rd– Ignacio Uria, owner of the construction company Altuna y Uria, is shot dead in Azpeitia. Eta later claims responsibility for the killing.
Dec 8th– French police announce the arrest of a man identified as Balak, presumed successor to Txeroki.
April 18th, 2009– Jurdan Martitegi, Eta's new military leader known as "the giant", is arrested in southern France.
Aug 9th – Eta claims responsibility for bombs in the previous two months which killed three policemen and injured 46.
Nov 14th– Batasuna calls for talks between Eta and Spain based on principles used in Northern Ireland's peace process. Spain rejects the overtures the next day.
Feb 28th, 2010– Ibon Gogeascoechea, Eta's latest top leader and on the run since 1997, is arrested in Normandy.
March 17th– A French police officer is shot and killed near Paris after suspected Eta rebels fire on his patrol while leaving a car robbery scene.
Sept 5th– Eta decides to stop carrying out armed attacks, according to a statement published by Basque-language newspaper Gara on its website.
Sept 26th– Eta lays out conditions for an end to its violent campaign, warning that it reserves the right to defend itself during a so-called "ceasefire".
Oct 28th– Batasuna says it will reject violence in its drive to be legalised but the government says it must go further to be able to participate in elections.
Jan 10th, 2011– "Eta has decided to declare a permanent and general ceasefire, which may be verified by the international community," says a statement published on the website of Basque regional newspaper Gara.
“This is Eta’s firm commitment to the process to find a definitive solution and an end to armed confrontation,” it says. – (Reuters)