ETA gives France list of arms dumps as part of peace plan
Spain urges it to ask for forgiveness and disappear
PARIS // The Basque separatist group ETA has formally given French authorities a list of eight locations of its caches of weapons, ammunition and explosives in a crucial move towards disarmament. The Spanish government called on the rebels to “ask forgiveness from its victims and disappear”.
French interior minister Matthias Fekl said a police operation was under way yesterday to find and search the arms caches.
“It’s a great step, an unquestionably important day,” said Mr Fekl.
Inactive for more than five years, ETA had said it would hand over its arms, a historic step following a 43-year campaign that claimed 829 lives, mostly in Spain.
Disarmament is the penultimate step demanded by France and Spain. They want ETA to formally disband. But the organisation has not said whether it will comply. Spain “will not make any evaluation of the handing over of weapons today by ETA until they have been analysed by French authorities and jus- tice”, said interior minister Juan Ignacio Zoido. “The government will not alter its position – terrorists cannot hope to receive special treatment from the government nor immunity for their crimes.”
Spain called on ETA to “announce its definitive dissolution, ask forgiveness from its victims and disappear”.
Representatives of the self-appointed Peace Artisans activist group, acting as mediators in the disarmament process, said that ETA surrendered 120 firearms and three tonnes of explosives and ammunition.
The caches are in south-west France, a region historically used as a support base by ETA. Tens of thousands of people gathered in the streets of French Basque town of Bayonne to celebrate the peace.
Many Basque separatists have pushed for convicted members to serve their time closer to their homes, not scattered around Spain and France. The Spanish and French governments have repeatedly refused. A handful of ETA members are still on the run.
Hundreds of killings also remain unsolved, and the arms caches could help lead authorities to some of the perpetrators.