A leader of the outlawed political wing of Spain's Basque group ETA says the car bombing Saturday in Madrid linked by the government to his group caught his movement by surprise.
The comments of Joseba Alvarez, a leading member of the Batasuna Party, on Basque radio Wednesday raised the possibility of a split within ETA, which has waged a violent independence campaign since 1968.
Alvarez did not elaborate. But he said separatists had known since September that the fledgling peace process was, in his words, in "crisis."
Tuesday, Spain's Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said the process was, in his words, "broken, liquidated and finished." The opposition Popular Party has been pressuring the Socialist government to break off attempts at dialogue with ETA.
In March, ETA declared a permanent ceasefire in its independence campaign, which has claimed more than 800 lives.
Meanwhile, rescue workers at the bombsite continued digging through rubble today, as hopes dimmed for finding two missing men alive. Two Ecuadorian men were seen by witnesses sleeping in cars at the time of the blast, which wounded about 20 other people.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
