Basque guerrillas ETA say peace talks bogged down

MADRID, August 18 (Reuters) Spain's armed Basque separatist group ETA said today the peace process with the government was bogged down five months after it declared a ceasefire and threatened to fight back if what it called attacks against nationalist politicians continued.

In a communiquDe issued to Basque Country newspaper Gara, ETA said the peace process was at an ''impasse''. It accused the government of hounding Basque nationalist politicians and threatened an unspecified ''response'' if this continued.

''If the attacks continue against Euskal Herria, ETA will respond,'' the guerrilla group said, using language which will be interpreted here as a threat of a return to its 38 years of armed struggle in which it killed more than 800 people.

Euskal Herria means the Basque Country in the region's ancient language.

Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in June he would begin peace talks with ETA, which wants independence for the Basque Country in northern Spain and southern France and declared a ceasefire in March.

But there has been little progress on legalising banned Basque nationalist party Batasuna -- a step which is seen as crucial if a peace process is to take root -- and a judge recently said he would stop the group from holding a pro-independence demonstration.

There was no immediate response from the Spanish government to the ETA announcement.

ETA has been seriously weakened by hundreds of arrests in recent years and polls show only a minority of Spanish Basques want independence.

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