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news.yahoo.com]
Bob Dylan sings for Basque peace Tue Jul 11, 6:32 PM ET
Tens of thousands of music lovers spread out along the beach near the Spanish city of San Sebastian to listen to US legend Bob Dylan perform in support of the peace process for the Basque region.
For an hour and a half, the 65-year-old folk-rock musician reached into his arsenal of timeless classics, including "Mr. Tambourine Man" to regale the crowds, mostly young, gathered on Zurriola beach.
Dylan made no speech, but the event's organizers had said earlier his concert would be remembered as "a milestone in the path of peace".
"The idea of a concert for peace in the Basque Country is interesting, espeically at this time of hope," said Iban Urbiea, a 30-year-old teacher. "But I'm really here to hear Bob Dylan, the myth," he added.
"Music is universal," added Thierry Ducamp, a French restaurant owner who crossed the border from southwest France for the event. "A concert like this can bring together all sorts of people and contribute to finding peace."
In June Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced that his government would open talks with the armed Basque movement ETA to try to end nearly four decades of separatist unrest which has killed 850 people.
Three months after the group declared a permanent ceasefire, Zapatero said the time was right for dialogue but cautioned that it would be "a long, hard and difficult" process.
US-born Dylan, author of peace anthems such as "Blowing in the Wind" and "Masters of War", followed an opening act by Mikel Laboa, a "living legend of Basque music", according to the organisers.