MADRID, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Basque separatist group ETA plans to announce a permanent ceasefire from Friday, a report in the Basque newspaper Gara said on Wednesday.

    "ETA has decided to declare a permanent ceasefire from March 24, 2006," said the statement.

    ETA, which wants to establish an independent state out of northern Spain and southwestern France, has killed 850 people since 1968 in its separatist drive. The United States and the European Union have listed it as a terrorist group. Enditem