Basque separatist group ETA said it would disarm today, bringing to an end decades of violence that have claimed hundreds of lives.
In a letter addressed to the international community, ETA — which has waged a bloody campaign of bombings and shootings — said it was giving up all of its weapons.
“‘Disarmament day’ is tomorrow and we want to warn that still the process can be attacked by the enemies of peace,” the group said in an English and Spanish-language letter published by the BBC and dated yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
In the note, ETA, which is still considered a terrorist group by the EU, said it had abandoned “all its weaponry (arms and explosives) to Basque civil society representatives” and described itself as a “disarmed organization.”
The group said Bayonne, a city in the French Basque region, would be the focal point of the disarmament process, where it expected thousands of people to gather today.
ETA’s announcement came after the head of the regional Basque government, Inigo Urkullu, last month said that the separatist group planned to fully lay down its weapons by today.
At the time, Urkullu called on the Spanish and French governments to “show ambitious vision and open direct lines of communication” with ETA.
However, Madrid, a strong opponent of ETA, rebuffed the plea and instead demanded that the group “dissolve” and never reappear.
In its letter, ETA said the process of disarming has been “a hard and difficult task,” praising Basque authorities while accusing Spain and France of being “stubborn.”
On Thursday, there had been doubts over the final handover of arms, with arrangements for the event remaining sketchy. So-called “peacemakers” drawn from French civil society were supposed to hand over an inventory of the weapons on behalf of ETA on the sidelines of a “big popular gathering” in Bayonne.
However, a source close to ETA said that negotiations were still under way with French authorities and that the actual handover of the arsenal — which experts have said consists of 130 handguns and 2 tonnes of explosives — would take place outside Bayonne to ensure that it is “total and verifiable.”
“This disarmament is essential to definitively turn the page on violence in the Basque Country, but must nevertheless be carried out in full respect of the rule of law,” French Senator Frederique Espagnac told reporters.
Spanish Minister of the Interior Juan Ignacio Zoido on Wednesday said there “would be no negotiations nor concessions” to ETA members in exchange for disarmament.
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