Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Friday that the ETA ceasefire is just the first step to the final settlement of the whole issue.

 

Zapatero made the remarks at the Brussels press conference held after a European Council meeting.

 

He said he would appear before parliament this summer with a plan to move forward if an end to violence is verified.

 

The Basque separatist group ETA announced to begin a ceasefire from 23:00 GMT Thursday.

 

The group said it ended a campaign that began in 1968 and left some 850 people dead and thousands wounded.

 

A survey published by Friday's Spanish newspapers shows that 80 percent of Spaniards believed that Zapatero was obliged to explore dialogue with ETA.

 

Eighty-six percent of respondents said that the largest opposition People's Party should support the government without quibbles in the process.

 

(Xinhua News Agency, March 25, 2006)