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ETA Announces a "Permanent Cease-Fire"• The government obtained parliamentary approval in May 2005 to open a dialogue with ETA* if it laid down its arms. • The daily "Gara" will publish a new statement by the terrorist organization tomorrow. 03/22/05 -- MADRID -- The terrorist organization ETA has announced a "permanent cease-fire" in a statement sent to Basque Public Television (EITB). "The object of this decision is to motivate a democratic process in Euskal Herria,**" added the "message" delivered "to the Basque people." "Overcoming the conflict, here and now, is possible. This is the desire and the will of ETA," the group affirmed. This announcement of ETA comes after almost three years without killings, during which the terrorist group nevertheless did not abandon its activity. In the last few months, the organization has been especially active in planting light explosive devices. So far, ETA has announced on at least ten occasions the cessation of its violent actions, with the truce that became effective on September 18, 1998 being the first announcement of a "general cease-fire," although it ended 14 months later when Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Blanco was assassinated in Madrid. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the concept of "cease-fire," used on this occasion by ETA, is the same method to which the IRA terrorist group resorted when it took the first step to contribute to the initiation of the peace process in Northern Ireland. In ETA's statement, read in [Castilian] Spanish and Euskera by a hooded woman who appeared on camera seated behind a table and accompanied by two others, all unarmed, the terrorist organization calls on "the authorities of Spain and France" to respond "in a positive manner, leaving aside repression." The terrorist group also indicated that the "object" of this decision is "to motivate a democratic process in Euskal Herria to construct a new framework recognizing the rights" of the Basque people and to assure, "with an eye toward the future, the possibility of the development of all political options," a process by the end of which "the Basque citizens must have a say in, and be able to determine, their future." Likewise, the terrorist group expressed its "desire and will" that the open process "will continue to its conclusion" and again called on Spain and France to recognize "without any kind of limitation" the results of the process. "Overcoming the conflict, here and now, is possible," proclaims ETA. The cease-fire decreed by ETA becomes effective as of this Friday, the 24th. On the same day, by coincidence, Arnaldo Otegi, the leader of the illicit Batasuna†organization, is expected to appear before the judge of the Audience, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, having been accused of violent actions that took place during the strike of March 9 in PaÃs Vasco y Navarra.*** Following his appearance before the judge, Otegi could end up incarcerated. Last week, after receiving the declarations of five of the seven accused, Grande-Marlaska sent two of them to prison: the ex-spokesman of Gestoras Pro AmnistÃa, Juan MarÃa Olano, and Batasuna's former communications director, Juan José Petrikorena. The Basque daily "Gara" will publish a new statement by ETA tomorrow regarding the announcement of the cease-fire, according to what appears in a special edition published by the paper this evening. The middle of the front page includes an announcement stating that "Tomorrow a declaration of ETA [will appear] in Gara." The hoped-for announcement President José Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero was informed of the news of ETA's announcement by the intelligence services around noon, while he was meeting in the Palace of the Moncloa# with the new councillor of the Bank of Spain and the former Treasury Secretary, Miguel Ã?ngel Fernández Ordóñez. Some fifteen minutes later, the channel ETB announced ETA's cease-fire and the transmission of a special segment at 12:55 p.m., when the video was shown. The president called on "lehendakari,^" Juan José Ibarretxe, to analyze the situation that the announcement has created. Shortly afterwards, the president and the leader of the opposition, Mariano Rajoy, had a conversation in which "they shared a tone of caution," according to what sources from La Moncloa have told El Mundo. Just this afternoon, during the "control" session in Congress, President Zapatero expressed his desire to count on all political forces after ETA's cease-fire announcement. "Fear of horror united us. I am confident that now hope unites us," he proclaimed. At the end of his address, he confirmed that he will have a meeting with Mariano Rajoy next week. The First Vice-President of the Government, MarÃa Teresa Fernández de la Vega, said that the Executive has the obligation to be "more prudent than ever," and asked for the support of the political parties. On his own part, the secretary-general of the Popular Party,**** Mariano Rajoy, confirmed that the dissolution of ETA matters most and has not been achieved, meaning that the truce "is not a renunciation; it's nothing more than a pause." Parliamentary backing for the dialogue The government of José Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero has obtained parliamentary endorsement to initiate a dialogue with ETA if the terrorist group lays down its arms. On May 17, 2005, the Congress of Deputies***** gave this support to the president, after approving a motion from which only the Popular Party dissented. After Zapatero entered the government, a series of events occurred which spread rumors and news that a truce might be imminent. A key moment occured on November 14, 2004, when Batasuna held an event in the Anoeta Velodrome of San Sebastián in which it presented the proposal, "Now the people, now the peace," asking "that the conflict be taken out of the streets" and be resolved at two tables of simultaneous negotiations. Many analysts interpreted this movement as a decisive point of inflection. During the last few months, José Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero has expressed his "conviction" that "this is the best opportunity in many years to begin to see the way to end the violence." Stemming from these words, the lack of understanding between the Government and the Popular Party on antiterrorist policy deepened from day to day. The latest affirmation in this respect from sources close to the Executive came this past Sunday. The secretary of the oraganization of the PSOE,*! José Blanco, insisted that the end of the violence "is closer than ever" and showed himself to be convinced that "what has been developing during this time has all the possibility of becoming a definitive decision." This past Saturday, Bilbao played host to a demonstration under the slogan "For the sake of peace, accord, and consultation," organized by Lokarri - the successor of Elkarri - and backed by the Basque government. Since 1968, ETA has murdered 851 people, 99 of them in 1980, the bloodiest year of the terrorist organization. ETA considers PaÃs Vasco y Navarra, in Spain, and the provinces of Baja Navarra, Lapurdi, and Suberoa, in France, to be Euskadi [Basque] territory. [Full Article] * ETA stands for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna [Note that the words appearing in bold also appear in bold in the original article.] [From El Mundo, a major Spanish daily based in Madrid] --Translated by Chris Drake Go to original article: http://www.elmundo.es/elm ( categories: Other )
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