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ETA calls for Spanish, French cooperation

MADRID, March 23 (UPI) -- The Basque separatist group ETA Thursday called for Spain and France to react positively to its announcement of a permanent cease-fire.

On Wednesday, ETA declared the cease-fire, ending decades of fighting that claimed more than 800 lives. The permanent end to hostilities is to start Friday.

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ETA issued a statement saying the truce would "promote a democratic process in the Basque country" and called on the Spanish and French governments to end "repression" of the separatist movement.

Since the late 1960s, ETA has been fighting for a separate homeland straddling the Spanish-French border. In recent years, the group has carried out a number of bombings, though no one has been killed in an ETA attack for four years.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero praised the declaration, though warned the subsequent peace process would be "long and difficult."

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