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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By DANIEL WOOLLS, Associated Press
November 11, 2011
MADRID (AP) — The Basque separatist group ETA, which renounced violence
last month after spending more than 40 years trying to shoot and bomb its
way into achieving an independent state, now says surrendering weapons is on
its agenda, a newspaper reported Friday.
The Basque newspaper Gara, often seen as an ETA mouthpiece, quoted two
members as saying that the group — severely weakened by years of arrests —
is prepared for the first time to negotiate over its arsenal.
"The issue of weapons is included on the negotiating agenda between ETA and
the State and we are willing to talk about it and to undertake compromises
in line with resolving all the consequences of the conflict," they said in a
long interview with the paper.
No such 'negotiating agenda' is known to exist and the word 'consequences'
is often interpreted as referring to the 700-odd ETA prisoners held in
Spanish and French prisons.
The members asserted that ETA has not renounced its goal of an independent
Basque state. Neither was named, because ETA is classified as a terrorist
organization in Spain and naming them would presumably have led to their
immediate arrest.
In a much awaited statement on Oct. 20, ETA declared a halt to its campaign
of violence. It said it now backs only peaceful means for achieving its goal.
The group has killed 829 people since the late 1960s and is considered a
terrorist organization by Spain, the EU and the U.S.
In the interview, the ETA members said negotiations it envisions with the
Spanish and French governments as part of its Oct. 20 statement should
center on three issues: returning ETA prisoners and "Basque political exiles
" to the Basque country — they seem to suggest this be done through an
outright amnesty — disarming ETA and removing Spanish National Police from
the region. The Basque region has its own police force. France is mentioned
because the independent homeland ETA wants includes parts of southwest
France.
General elections are scheduled for Nov. 20 in Spain, and many saw the
interview as a way to plug a pro-Basque independence coalition, Amaiur, that
is fielding candidates.
Ramon Jauregui, outgoing Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's chief
of staff, said disarming would be a "definitive verification" that ETA has
renounced violence, but said the interview was clearly aimed at reaping an "
electoral premium" for Amaiur.
The conservative Popular Party, expected to win the elections, has ruled out
any negotiations with ETA. It had no immediate comment on the interview.
The ETA members reiterated in the interview that the people of the Basque
region have the right to decide between independence and remaining part of
Spain. It is now up to pro-independence parties to pick up where ETA left
off, they said. The Spanish constitution has no clause, however, that would
allow the Basque country to break away and form a sovereign country.
As was the case in the Oct. 20 statement, the two did not apologize to ETA's
victims — a highly sensitive issue in Spain. They, instead, said both
sides in the conflict have suffered.
"The armed confrontation of the last few decades has caused much suffering,
without a doubt. So have ETA's actions. We are not insensitive."
The two members referred to assertions that ETA had ended violence because
it had been defeated by police action as "propaganda" to weaken the pro-
independence cause.
ETA's decades of attacks have made "a major contribution" to where the pro-
independence movement is now at, they added. | o***s
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