Madrid - The Spanish Prime Minister, Mr Jose Maria Aznar, expressed guarded optimism about solving the Basque separatist conflict yesterday after the government announced that 21 ETA members, out of some 500 held in jail, would be moved closer to home.
Mr Aznar also said he was prepared to widen the dialogue on the Basque situation to include all parties represented in the Basque regional parliament, which would include ETA's legal political wing.
Mr Aznar has promised to be more flexible in the government's prisoner policy if ETA shows it truly wants peace. ETA has so far honoured its unilateral truce without incident.