ETA calls for talks, ‘return’ of prisoners

MADRID, March 27, (AFP): Basque separatist group ETA called Sunday for peace talks with the Spanish and French governments and the return of ETA prisoners to the northern Basque region.

In a lengthy article printed in Basque newspaper Naiz, ETA’s traditional mouthpiece, the group said “we are not where we expected” five years after declaring a “definitive end to armed activity”.

“A process of dialogue for peace and resolution has not been started, with either the states or the political forces in Euskal Herria (the Basque Country),” it said.

“The consequences of the conflict have not been resolved, the main knot being the situation of Basque political prisoners which still has not been untangled.”