Eta ceasefire: Your comments

BBC news website readers have been reacting to news of Eta's armed campaign coming to an end

Spain's prime minister has hailed the end of Basque separatist group Eta's armed campaign as a "victory for democracy, law and reason".

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the 800 victims of Eta's 40-year struggle would not be forgotten and the "terror" should never happen again.

BBC News website readers in the region have been getting in touch with their views.

Xabier Manterola, Bilbao, Basque Country

This news marks the end to a very bad nightmare. All my friends are calling each other to talk about it and we are planning to celebrate later.

I was in the car when I began to hear radio broadcasts about the announcement. I had to stop what I was doing and call a friend to make sure it had really happened.

Most people here truly believe that this is the end of Eta. We're not even considering the possibility that Eta won't disband. It's best to think like this.

Eta has been seriously weakened and they have lost a lot of popular support over the years.

The Spanish politicians have used Eta as an excuse to avoid serious discussions about the political independence of the Basque country so we feel that they have held us back.

Now is the moment that we can start to discuss our relationship seriously. Spanish politicians have said many times that our relative situation can only change if there is an end to violence. This moment has now come.

It's not that I want to impose independence but I want the issue to be discussed seriously and I want there to be a referendum.

People's views must be reflected in a democratic way, like they did in Quebec.

I don't think it's realistic to think that we will achieve independence in the next ten years.

However I'm looking forward to a stable solution to the Basque "issue" - a new situation that will reflect our rights and give us some serious autonomy.

The Basque country should have a political status and the political environment is now ready for this to happen.

Antonio Molina, Madrid

Eta is lying as they have in all their previous truces. They are a mafia-type band of assassins who treacherously killed 858 innocent people.

Their only way out is to ask forgiveness to the victims, give up themselves to justice and deliver all their arms and explosives - kept in case nobody pays heed to their impossible demands.

The "peace conference" was a ridiculous pantomime with a group of six badly-informed foreign politicians who don't really know what is happening in Spain.

If we follows Eta's wish, it will be a forced peace. They don't care about peace, they just want independence, money and to have a political voice.

They want to to impose their own convictions which are not good for Spain.

The Basque Country should remain part of Spain because it has always been part of Spain.

What they call Basque country, is like Catalonia, it is part of Spain. This is not Ireland and England. They live in Spain. Spain is a whole country.

People living in the Basque region are scared to disagree with Eta. Nobody wants terrorism. Innocent people have been killed.

Francisco Montero, Bizkaia, Basque Country

I welcome this news. We have been waiting for years to hear this. It has only happened now that the circumstances are right.

The Basque people have been hoping for a definitive end to political violence for several years.

In every conflict there are two or more sides. The main obstacle to overcome now is the Spanish government's denial of the situation.

Out of simple political interest, both of the main Spanish political parties, (rightist PP and the Socialist party) use this as an electoral campaign topic and a weapon against each other.

I am Basque and have endured an environment of political violence all my life. I have not known a peaceful Basque Country.

I have also known the arrest and sentence of an innocent brother, the humiliation of my parents at the hand of Spanish officials and a long list of other unfair situations.

These events were not created by the violence alone but by the fact that some people denied there was a political problem.

There are many terrible stories that have aggravated a conflict that originates in the different perception of what this part of the world should be.

Basque people are tired of killing and death. This is what has moved Eta to end its activity, not the police actions carried out against the organisation.

I am sure that an end to violence will be welcomed by all but addressing the issues behind it will help to bring a permanent solution.

That is what will bring real peace.

The political situation is unclear but this is a good start.