Madrid - Basque separatist fighters ETA declared a ceasefire in their flagging, decades-long campaign of bombing and shooting for a homeland independent of Spain.

ETA, blamed for the deaths of 829 people over more than 40 years, said in a video it had decided several months ago that it "will not carry out armed offensive actions."

The separatists did not say if the ceasefire was permanent and their declaration was greeted with broad scepticism by Spanish political parties, which demand ETA give up its weapons for good and disband.

Listed as a terrorist group by the United States and European Union, ETA has not staged an attack on Spanish soil since August 2009, and police have arrested much of its top leadership.

ETA made the announcement in a video sent to the BBC and pro-independence Basque daily Gara, showing three people in berets and yellow hoods sitting at a table flanked by Basque flags and with an ETA symbol on the wall behind.