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Basque Separatist Group ETA Is Said to Promise to Disarm Basque Separatist Group ETA Is Said to Promise to Disarm
(about 3 hours later)
ETA, the Basque separatist group, was expected to announce on Friday that it would turn over its remaining weapons next month, a development that brought a cautious response by the Spanish government as the organization has not followed through on similar pledges in the past. ETA, the Basque separatist group, is expected to turn over its remaining weapons next month, the Basque regional leader and a Basque activist said Friday, a development that brought a cautious response by the Spanish government as the organization has not followed through on similar pledges in the past.
The Spanish government, which has called for the unilateral and unconditional dissolution of ETA, made disarmament an essential condition of its willingness to declare that the group had ended its five-decade campaign of terror, but experience led officials in Madrid to take a wait-and-see approach.The Spanish government, which has called for the unilateral and unconditional dissolution of ETA, made disarmament an essential condition of its willingness to declare that the group had ended its five-decade campaign of terror, but experience led officials in Madrid to take a wait-and-see approach.
“ETA needs to disarm and dissolve itself — and that position has not changed, not even by a centimeter, in six years,” Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, the culture minister and the spokesman for the Spanish government, said at a news conference in Madrid on Friday.“ETA needs to disarm and dissolve itself — and that position has not changed, not even by a centimeter, in six years,” Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, the culture minister and the spokesman for the Spanish government, said at a news conference in Madrid on Friday.
ETA promised to hand over its weapons unconditionally by April 8, according to a report in Le Monde, the French newspaper, that was based on a statement provided by Jean Noël Etcheverry, a Basque separatist and environmentalist militant. The group was expected to issue its own statement later on Friday. ETA promised to hand over its weapons unconditionally by April 8, according to a report in Le Monde, the French newspaper, that was based on a statement provided by Jean Noël Etcheverry, a Basque separatist and environmentalist militant.
The Basque group, which is considered by the United States and the European Union to be a terrorist organization, declared a unilateral cease-fire in 2011, but it refused to surrender unconditionally and turn over all its weapons. Iñigo Urkullu, the Basque regional government leader, said Friday in response to the Le Monde report that his Basque administration considered the weapons pledge from ETA to be credible and would do “all that is in our hands for the disarmament to come through well.”
But, he added, “not everything is in our hands.”
The Basque separatist group, which is considered by the United States and the European Union to be a terrorist organization, declared a unilateral cease-fire in 2011, but it refused to surrender unconditionally and turn over all its weapons.
The government in Madrid has continued to successfully pursue its members, in close cooperation with French and other police forces, to the point that security specialists no longer consider ETA a serious threat.The government in Madrid has continued to successfully pursue its members, in close cooperation with French and other police forces, to the point that security specialists no longer consider ETA a serious threat.
ETA, which long sought to establish an independent Basque homeland in an area that covers parts of northern Spain and southwestern France, killed more than 800 people but is now depleted of organizational leadership and access to weapons.ETA, which long sought to establish an independent Basque homeland in an area that covers parts of northern Spain and southwestern France, killed more than 800 people but is now depleted of organizational leadership and access to weapons.
About a year after he was identified by the Spanish police as the leader of ETA, Mikel Irastorza was arrested in November in a French village near the border with Spain.About a year after he was identified by the Spanish police as the leader of ETA, Mikel Irastorza was arrested in November in a French village near the border with Spain.
The authorities have also seized weapons, including a cache that was found in a forest north of Paris last fall, containing about 145 handguns. The organization has not killed anyone in Spain since 2009.The authorities have also seized weapons, including a cache that was found in a forest north of Paris last fall, containing about 145 handguns. The organization has not killed anyone in Spain since 2009.
Iñigo Urkullu, the Basque regional leader, said on Friday that his Basque government considered the weapons pledge from ETA to be credible and would do “all that is in our hands for the disarmament to come through well.”
But, he added, “not everything is in our hands.”