zimv20
Mar 22, 2006, 01:53 PM
link (http://nytimes.com/2006/03/22/international/europe/22cnd-eta.html?hp&ex=1143090000&en=a0a41d714e5bb6e1&ei=5094&partner=homepage)
SEVILLE, March 22 — The militant Basque separatist group ETA, which has killed more than 800 people and terrorized Spain for nearly 40 years, announced a permanent ceasefire today, saying that it would turn its attention to achieving independence for the Basque region through politics.
A permanent ceasefire, which the group said would take effect on March 24, has been the paramount objective of successive Spanish governments since the establishment of democracy here in 1977.
Politicians and victims groups said it was important to treat the announcement with caution, saying that ETA had a history of deceit and unfulfilled promises.
But the overriding tone of most comments suggested that much of the country was allowing itself to contemplate a future that was finally free of the threat of ETA violence.
"The government has to be more prudent now than ever," María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, the deputy prime minister, told reporters in Madrid. But, she added, "our hope and desire is that this is the beginning of the end."
ETA, which was founded in the 1950s during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, first announced the ceasefire this morning in a statement to Radio Euskadi, a Basque Radio station. Three of its members, whose faces were hidden by white veils, later read the statement during an appearance on a television station operated by the Basque regional government.
"The objective of our decision is to advance the democratic process," the statement said, "in order to construct a new framework that will recognize the rights that we as a people deserve."
"At the end of the process, the Basque citizens should have the final word and decision about their future."
(more)
SEVILLE, March 22 — The militant Basque separatist group ETA, which has killed more than 800 people and terrorized Spain for nearly 40 years, announced a permanent ceasefire today, saying that it would turn its attention to achieving independence for the Basque region through politics.
A permanent ceasefire, which the group said would take effect on March 24, has been the paramount objective of successive Spanish governments since the establishment of democracy here in 1977.
Politicians and victims groups said it was important to treat the announcement with caution, saying that ETA had a history of deceit and unfulfilled promises.
But the overriding tone of most comments suggested that much of the country was allowing itself to contemplate a future that was finally free of the threat of ETA violence.
"The government has to be more prudent now than ever," María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, the deputy prime minister, told reporters in Madrid. But, she added, "our hope and desire is that this is the beginning of the end."
ETA, which was founded in the 1950s during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, first announced the ceasefire this morning in a statement to Radio Euskadi, a Basque Radio station. Three of its members, whose faces were hidden by white veils, later read the statement during an appearance on a television station operated by the Basque regional government.
"The objective of our decision is to advance the democratic process," the statement said, "in order to construct a new framework that will recognize the rights that we as a people deserve."
"At the end of the process, the Basque citizens should have the final word and decision about their future."
(more)
