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The Basque terrorist group ETA announced on Thursday evening that its armed campaign is over, and called on the Spanish and French governments to respond with “a process of direct dialogue”
21.10.11 - 12:37 -
The Basque terrorist group ETA announced on Thursday evening that its armed campaign is over, and called on the Spanish and French governments to respond with “a process of direct dialogue”. Rodolfo Ares, head of the Interior department for the Basque region, called ETA’s statement “ inadequate”. “Any declaration that talks about the suspension of terrorist attacks – even if it is only temporary – should be considered as good news,” he said. But he called Eta’s declaration “ambiguous” and “absolutely insufficient”, because it did not ”take into account what the vast majority of Basque society demands and requires from ETA, which is that it definitively abandon terrorist activity”.
The end of ETA
“The end of ETA is nigh”. This at least is what had been announced or insinuated from all corners (except until now officially from the terrorists themselves) in recent months. The idea that Europe’s last remaining armed conflict was about to expire gained even more weight after last Monday’s international peace conference in San Sebastián.
The Basque nationalist parties and the region’s Socialist group were joined at the conference by six international mediators: former UN secretary general, Kofi Annan; former Irish premier, Bertie Ahern; Sinn Féin leader, Gerry Adams; Pierre Joxe of France, Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway; and Jonathan Powell of Britain.
The Spanish central Government and the conservative opposition party, Partido Popular, refused to attend and practically ignored the conference, sticking to their now common line that there will be no negotiation or concessions until the terrorist group has announced its dissolution and given up its arms for good.
Meanwhile the radical pro-independence groups who took part in the conference showed their satisfaction at the conclusions reached by the international negotiators. As well as calling for an end to the violence these recommend that Spain and France agree to talks with ETA as soon as it makes a definitive declaration of the “cessation of all armed action”.
“We have come to the Basque country today because we believe it is time to end, and it is possible to end, the last armed confrontation in Europe”, former Irish premier Bertie Ahern said after the conference.
This is the first time that the banned political wing of ETA, Batasuna, has called for a definitive end to the violence, although not for the dissolution of the organisation, and showed its support of the conclusions of the international mediators.
Protest
Meanwhile the PP supporting association of victims of terrorism has announced a demonstration in Madrid on October 29th to reject “the negotiation” between the Government and ETA that in their opinion was expressed at the San Sebastián conference. Their spokesperson, Francisco José Alcaráz, said that the event was set up by “blood-trafficking international mediators” and was “an insult and a showing of disrespect” towards the victims of terrorism”.
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Basque terrorists, in a picture taken from a video on Thursday. sur
