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Spain: ETA statement 'falls short'From CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSMADRID (CNN) -- The Spanish government has dismissed a new statement from the Basque separatist group ETA, saying it does not meet expectations, a senior aide to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told CNN late Thursday. The statement does not call for a cease-fire nor does it say the group is renouncing violence, and the Spanish government is not giving it much attention, the aide said. "It is not the communique that all of us had been hoping for," the aide said, referring to recent speculation in Madrid that a major ETA cease-fire announcement could occur at any moment. "The government received the statement, studied it, but is not giving it the slightest attention. The only statement we want is one declaring the end of the violence," the aide said. ETA, blamed for more than 800 killings in its 37-year fight for Basque independence, is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States. Spanish news reports said the latest statement called on the international community to participate in a negotiated settlement to the conflict, and for more power in the Basque region, but the prime minister's aide would not comment on that. ETA has not killed anyone since 2003, although it continues a campaign of bombings that have caused injuries and property damage this year. More than 500 ETA prisoners are now in Spanish jails, after police in Spain and France, ETA's traditional rearguard region, have boosted cooperation in recent years. 
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