ETA Ceasefire Talk
- September 7th, 2010
- Posted by EUEditor
The Spanish government on Monday rebuffed a ceasefire announced by the Basque nationalist movement ETA.
“ETA has to renounce violence completely forever,” the Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said.
The government’s skepticism is built on several failed ceasefire moves over a period of decades.
It has made gains with the capture and imprisonment of several ETA leaders on charges related to terrorism.
Others in the movement want a change to electoral politics in the Basque region, for which they would need to obtain a peace settlement, and so, lifting of a ban on the political wing of the movement.
Basque nationalism was suppressed after the Spanish civil war and defeat of the Spanish republic, which had recognised claims for regional autonomy.
The movement - Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom) - continued its underground campaign after the end of the Franco regime, more than 800 deaths attributed to terrorist actions in the last 40 years.
It is listed as a terrorist group by the European Union.
Tension and recurrent disturbances in the region have long been held in contrast to ongoing calm in the French Basque country across the border.
Reference
Press TV, Ireland/ AFP, “ETA ceasefire not enoughâ€, 7.9.10. http://www.presstv.ir/detail/141474.html, 7.9.10).
Reuters, London, Reuters World News Highlights, 6.9.10. http://www.forexyard.com/en/news/Reuters-World-News-Highlights-at-1745-GMT-Sep-06-2010-09-06T175726Z, (7.9.10).
Wikipedia, SF, ETAS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETA, (7.9.10).
Picture ETA badge