ETA weapons handed over to ‘civil society’ in France

BAYONNE, France: The Basque separatist group ETA, which has promised to give up all its remaining arms by Saturday, has handed over the weapons to “civil society” in France, one of them said on Friday.

“We have the political and technical responsibility for ETA’s disarmament, and it has been done,” said Txetx Etcheverry, a Basque environmentalist.

“ETA has handed over its weapons to civil society. They are on French soil,” he said.

Etcheverry gave no other details about the purported arms transfer or the contents of the arsenal itself, saying they were “confidential”.

ETA, founded in 1959, says its pledge confirms it has brought the curtain down on its armed campaign for a Basque homeland, a territory that straddles the border between northwest Spain and southwest France.

In Madrid, the government dismissed ETA disarmament as a unilateral affair and bluntly warned that the group — which it denounces as a terror organisation — could expect “nothing” in return.

“It will not reap any political advantage or profit,” said Inigo Mendez de Vigo, who is culture minister and government spokesman.

Analysts say ETA’s arsenal is estimated at 130 handguns and two tonnes of explosives.

ETA, blamed for the deaths of 829 people in a string of bombings and shootings on both sides of the FrancoSpanish border, says it gave up its armed campaign in 2011.

It has sought to negotiate its dissolution in exchange for amnesties or improved prison conditions for roughly 350 members of the group being held in Spain and France.

Around a hundred of them are serving sentences of more than 10 years.

Etcheverry said weapons “experts” would carry out “a series of checks” on Saturday, referring to a verification body that includes a former Interpol secretary-general, Raymond Kendall, that is not recognised by either the French or the Spanish governments.

French police are on standby to take possession of the weapons, officials have said.

An event is planned in the French Basque city of Bayonne on Saturday to mark “Disarmament Day” but Etcheverry warned that peace could be harder to find.

“Disarmament does not mean peace,” he said. “The French and Spanish government must help to resolve all the consequences of this conflict.”

ETA is still considered a terrorist group by the European Union.

The head of the regional Basque government, Inigo Urkullu, last month called on the Spanish and French governments to “show ambitious vision and open direct lines of communication” with ETA.

But the Spanish national government rebuffed the plea and instead demanded the group “dissolve” and never reappear.

In a newly published letter, ETA said the process of disarmament had been “difficult”, praising the Basque authorities while accusing Spain and France of being “stubborn”.

Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said on Wednesday there “would be no negotiations nor concessions” to ETA members in exchange for disarmament.