The Independent reports that Eta, the Basque separatist group that aims to establish an independent socialist state in the northern Basque region of Spain, has announced that it will "continue to take up arms" until the region has achieved full independence. Gara, a newspaper that "often serves as the mouth of Eta" reports that a statement read on Saturday by a masked Eta militant at a pro-independence rally in Aritxulegi near San Sabastian proclaimed "The fight is not a thing of the past. It is the present and the future."
Eta had declared a ceasefire between itself and Spain in March, claiming that it wanted a negotiated truce to end the 40-year conflict in which they have killed more than 800 people. The Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez reportedly believed Eta's proposition to be a sincere one, and expressed genuine interest in diplomatic negotiations with the group, negotiations which have not been cancelled but have yet to take place. Earlier the Spanish government had said that it would suspend all negotiations with Eta until the group discontinued all forms of violence. Since June, groups claiming loyalty to Eta have attacked banks, buses, and political party offices with petroleum-based explosives; however the Independent reports that no one has been injured in these attacks. While Spanish ministers have regularly condemned the Eta attacks there has reportedly been no announced halt to their current plans to negotiate with the separatist group.
Eta has accused the Spanish government of not living up to its own promise of a ceasefire, a claim which the Independent reports apparently refers to "a promise to stop arresting Eta members". Link to the story below. -TW
Eta to 'keep taking up arms' in secession war (The Independent)
Updates:
Spanish government meets ETA in Oslo for peace talks (International Herald Tribune)
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