Spanish govt tells Eta to renounce violence
The Spanish government responded to a peace overture from the armed Basque separatist group Eta today by saying the group must first renounce violence and surrender its weapons.
ETA issued a statement yesterday saying it endorsed a new formula for peace talks that was announced in November by Batasuna, the banned party seen as Eta’s political wing.
That plan is a two-pronged approach under which Batasuna would take the lead in peace talks with the government, while Eta and the government would negotiate side issues such as the fate of hundreds of Eta prisoners held in Spanish and French jails.
Jordi Sevilla, the minister responsible for relations between Spain’s central government and the country’s regions, such as the Basque country, responded by saying: “All we are waiting for is a letter from Eta in which it tells us where and when it will hand over its weapons and that it is abandoning terrorism.”
