TIMELINE: Suspected military leader of ETA captured

(Reuters) - Here is a timeline of some major events since Euskadi ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom) was founded:

1959 - ETA is formed during dictatorship of General Francisco Franco to fight for Basque self-determination.

1968 - ETA carries out first killing: victim is Meliton Manzanas, police chief in the Basque city of San Sebastian.

1973 - Franco's Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco is killed when his car passes over explosives planted by ETA in Madrid.

1980 - In its bloodiest year, ETA kills nearly 100 people despite Spain's return to democracy.

September 1985 - First ETA car bomb explodes in Madrid. A U.S. tourist is killed and 16 Civil Guards wounded.

July 1986 - Twelve Civil Guards are killed in Madrid and 50 wounded. Juan Manuel Soares, a repentant Basque separatist, is sentenced to 1,401 years in jail in April 2000 for the killings.

June 1987 - Twenty-one shoppers are killed by a bomb at Barcelona supermarket. ETA apologises.

September 1998 - ETA announces a truce. The ceasefire ends in December 1999.

November 21, 2000 - Socialist Former Health Minister Ernest Lluch shot dead in Barcelona. Nearly one million demonstrate to condemn ETA.

October 10, 2004 - New Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero appeals to ETA to give up the fight after the arrest of a suspected leader, Mikel Albisu Iriarte, alias "Mikel Antza."

March 22, 2006 - ETA declares a permanent ceasefire, which comes into force two days later.

-- December 30 - Car bomb explodes at Madrid airport killing two Ecuadorians. Zapatero breaks off peace process. ETA later claims responsibility for airport bomb.

April 8, 2007 - ETA says it is ready to make new commitments to the peace process if Spain stops "attacks" in the Basque region where police have been arresting ETA suspects.

-- December 1 - ETA suspects kill two Guardia Civil policemen working undercover in France.

January 14, 2008 - Zapatero rules out any chance of peace talks with ETA and says its only option is unilateral surrender.