Basque separatist group ETA to officially dissolve in May

Source: Xinhua    2018-04-19 20:25:18

MADRID, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The Basque militant group ETA will officially announce its dissolution early next month, putting an end to its violent struggle for establishing a Basque state in northern Spain and southwest France, Spanish media reported Thursday.

The ETA killed more than 800 people including police agents, politicians and entrepreneurs before giving up its armed campaign for Basque independence in 2011.

The group gave up all its weapons and explosives in a ceremony in the French city of Bayonne in April 2017.

A Basque newspaper, Gara, reported in February that ETA's leaders would ask its hundreds of members to vote on whether it should continue or dissolve.

The group will announce its full dissolution on the first weekend of May, the public television station ETB reported. Details of the event are expected to be announced at a news conference on Monday by South African lawyer Brian Currin and other members of the International Contact Group mediating body, it said.

The ETB said an event to mark the disbandment of the ETA will be held in southern France before the final announcement by the group.

The Spanish central government has so far not commented on the news, while sources from the Basque regional government said that for the moment, it will not discuss "speculations over possible dates or scenarios," adding that the moment to assess events will be when the dissolution of the ETA finally happens.

The ETA was founded in 1959 during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco as a pro-Basque cultural organization, but evolved into a paramilitary organization which was firmly rooted in Basque society.

The organization claimed its first victim in 1968 when a civil guard was shot, and the last person killed by ETA was a French policeman in March 2010.

Continued police pressure in both France and Spain in recent years and rejection by a large part of Basque society meant that the ETA had already lost much of its power and effectiveness prior to the 2010 cease-fire.

Editor: pengying
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Basque separatist group ETA to officially dissolve in May

Source: Xinhua 2018-04-19 20:25:18

MADRID, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The Basque militant group ETA will officially announce its dissolution early next month, putting an end to its violent struggle for establishing a Basque state in northern Spain and southwest France, Spanish media reported Thursday.

The ETA killed more than 800 people including police agents, politicians and entrepreneurs before giving up its armed campaign for Basque independence in 2011.

The group gave up all its weapons and explosives in a ceremony in the French city of Bayonne in April 2017.

A Basque newspaper, Gara, reported in February that ETA's leaders would ask its hundreds of members to vote on whether it should continue or dissolve.

The group will announce its full dissolution on the first weekend of May, the public television station ETB reported. Details of the event are expected to be announced at a news conference on Monday by South African lawyer Brian Currin and other members of the International Contact Group mediating body, it said.

The ETB said an event to mark the disbandment of the ETA will be held in southern France before the final announcement by the group.

The Spanish central government has so far not commented on the news, while sources from the Basque regional government said that for the moment, it will not discuss "speculations over possible dates or scenarios," adding that the moment to assess events will be when the dissolution of the ETA finally happens.

The ETA was founded in 1959 during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco as a pro-Basque cultural organization, but evolved into a paramilitary organization which was firmly rooted in Basque society.

The organization claimed its first victim in 1968 when a civil guard was shot, and the last person killed by ETA was a French policeman in March 2010.

Continued police pressure in both France and Spain in recent years and rejection by a large part of Basque society meant that the ETA had already lost much of its power and effectiveness prior to the 2010 cease-fire.

[Editor: huaxia]
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