Spain's armed Basque separatist group ETA says it will not carry out armed actions in its campaign for independence. In a vedio message given to the BBC, the group said it took the decision to put in motion a democratic process. According to reports, ETA has been under pressure with leading members of the group arrested and growing calls from Basque political parties to declare a ceasefire. It has called two ceasefires in the past, but abandoned them both. ETA, formed in 1959, seeks the establishment of an independent Basque state in the Basque region straddling the Spanish-French border. Over the past four decades, assassinations, kidnappings and explosions carried out by the group have claimed the lives of nearly 1,000 people.