France finds 3.5 tonnes of ETA weapons
It’s a decisive step towards end of Basque separatist terrorism, PM says
Nearly 3.5 tonnes of arms, explosives and other material have been found in eight arms dumps identified by ETA, French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said yesterday, following the Basque separatist group’s vow to disarm.
“The French government welcomes this operation, carried out calmly and without violence,” Cazeneuve said in a statement. “It’s a decisive step towards the end of Basque separatist terrorism.”
Inactive for more than five years, ETA had said it would hand over its arms, a historic
step following a 43-year violent campaign that claimed 829 lives, mostly in Spain. Disarmament is the secondto-last step demanded by France and Spain, which want ETA to formally disband.—Agencies
Basque militant group ETA yesterday effectively ended an armed separatist campaign after almost half a century, leading French authorities to the sites where it says its caches of weapons, explosives and ammunition are hidden.
ETA, which killed more than 850 people in its attempt to carve out an independent state in northern Spain and southwest France, declared a ceasefire in 2011 but did not disarm.
Founded in 1959 out of anger among Basques at political and cultural repression under General Francisco Franco, ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna — Basque Country and Freedom) gained notoriety as one of Europe’s most intractable separatist groups.
The Spanish government said ETA’s handover of weapons in the French city of Bayonne was positive but insufficient and called on the group to formally dissolve and apologise to its victims.
ETA’s disarmament ends an era of political violence in Western Europe, but comes as nationalism is stirring across the continent, with Scotland and the Spanish region of Catalonia seeking independence referendums, while Sinn Fein has urged a vote on taking Northern Ireland out of Britain.
ETA said in a letter to the BBC earlier this week it had handed over its weapons and explosives to civilian go-betweens who would deliver them to authorities. The mediators — known as ‘The Artisans of Peace’ — passed authorities a list with the coordinates for eight sites where ETA had stored its weapons arsenal, their representative, Michel Tubiana, told reporters in Bayonne.
Security forces were searching the sites to neutralise explosives and secure the weapons, French interior minister Matthias Fekl said at a news conference in Paris.
A Spanish government source said Madrid did not believe the group would hand over all its arms, while Spain’s state prosecutor has asked the High Court to examine those surrendered as possible murder weapons used in hundreds of unresolved cases.
ETA’s disarmament entailed no immunity for their crimes and they should not expect any favourable treatment, the government said in a statement.
“The actions carried out today by the terrorist group are nothing more than the result of their definitive defeat,” interior minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said in Madrid.
The only logical response to this situation is [for ETA] to announce its definitive dissolution, to apologise to its victims and to disappear rather than ... to disguise its defeat.” Mariano Rajoy | Spanish PM