ETA Calls for Permanent Cease Fire

The Basque militant separatist group ETA ended its decades long battle for a homeland along the Spanish-French border today by calling for an end to all hostilities. The Basque conflict one of the last remainng armed conflict in Western Europe. In a videotaped statement released to reporters, several cloaked figures were seen laying down their weapons "to promote democracy in the northern Spanish region."



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This is excellent news if hold true, especially since it had seemed these guys were beginning to work with al Qaeda. Hopefully whatever connection that was there will now disappear.

[edit on 3/22/2006 by djohnsto77]

[edit on 3/22/2006 by djohnsto77]

[edit on 27-3-2006 by DJDOHBOY]

The news prompted jubilation across the country, where ordinary citizens say they can hardly believe the end has come for a group blamed for more than 800 deaths and about $15.5bn in damage since the 1960s.

And so, that's it? Forty years of violence, 800 dead and 15 billion dollars in damage and all is well?

I think not.

"Any peace process after so many years of horror and terror will be long and difficult," he told parliament. Zapatero said that until now, Spain's political parties had been joined in pain over ETA violence.

"Now I trust we will be joined in hope."

The cease-fire was seen as a huge victory for Zapatero, but his critics maintained a hard line, saying they would fight to make sure the government does not give too much away.

www.news24.com

There is also little evidence, if any that the ETA and al Qaeda had any ties whatsoever.

Many Spaniards believed that after the March 11 2004, terror attacks in Madrid, carried out by Islamic extremists, ETA had effectively been stymied.

The idea is that popular revulsion over terrorism made more deadly violence politically unthinkable.

www.news24.com

Does ETA have ties to al-Qaeda?
No. ETA’s secular nationalist agenda has nothing to do with the Islamist fundamentalism of Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network, and there is no credible evidence of any systematic cooperation between ETA and al-Qaeda, experts say. But al-Qaeda cells have been discovered in Spain. In November 2001, Spanish authorities arrested eight men suspected of being al-Qaeda operatives involved in the September 11 attacks. One of these men reportedly had past links with ETA’s unofficial political wing, Batasuna, which the Spanish Supreme Court banned in March 2003. In September 2003, Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon said the September 11 attacks were partially planned in Spain.

www.cfr.org...

Basque separatists must see a democratic trend. The elections went so well for hamas in palestine that the ETA senses an opportunity to spread more democracy.

Told you, terrorism doesn't work when you are intentionally targeting civilians. Don't look good on tv for your group. ETA seeing the Madrid bombings probably pushed them to the point that people of Spain will not support them or sympathize with them after seeing the reaction of Al Qaida's attack.