Eta, the Basque separatist group announced on Sunday that they had ceased their armed attacks and were ready to negotiate with the government taking part in democratic process to achieve independence of their Basque country. Basque is a territory straddled at the French-Spanish borders.
In the wake of the fact that Basque separatist group Eta has had violated its several ceasefires unilaterally in the past, Spanish government has cautiously welcomed the statement made by a hooded woman in a video that was sent to BBC.
After being aired from BBC, the statement was also posted at the Basque newspaper Gara, but the question of this ceasefire being a permanent or temporary remains open as video statement does not suggest any answer to this very crucial question.
The statement said that Eta has taken the decision several months ago not to carry on armed attacks against the government as the woman who made the statement was reading a communiqué in the Basque language.
Eta statement further goes on saying that Eta assures that it will stick to its commitment to a democratic solution through dialogue so that they (Basques) can decide their future according to their free will.
On the government end, Spanish officials said that they were expecting this ceasefire for several weeks that can be a tactical withdrawal showing Basque separatist group’s military weakness in the wake of massive arrests of Basque leaders both in Spain and France.
Eta (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) which means Basque Country and Freedom started its violent campaign in 1968 against Francisco Franco regime and until now this violent campaign has claimed more than 800 lives.
Eta