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Spain Dismisses ETA Ceasefire

   Selah Hennessy | London 06 September 2010
   Spain's  Interior  Minister  Alfredo  Perez  Rubalcaba reacts during a
   press conference at the Spanish embassy in Rabat (File Photo)

Photo: AP

   Spain's  Interior  Minister  Alfredo  Perez  Rubalcaba reacts during a
   press conference at the Spanish embassy in Rabat (File Photo)

   Spain's Interior Minister said Monday a ceasefire declaration from the
   Basque  separatist  group  ETA  is  "insufficient".  The  armed  group
   announced its ceasefire on Sunday.

   Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told Spanish television that
   ETA's  cease-fire  statement  falls  far  short of what the government
   demands.

   ETA  sent  a  video  to  the BBC that was aired on Sunday. In it three
   masked  militants sit behind a table. Speaking in the Basque language,
   one says ETA will no longer use offensive armed action.

   The  militant  says it is a decision that was taken by the groups some
   months ago.

   But the group did not say how long the cease-fire would last or if and
   when they would hand over their weapons.

   Minister  Rubalcaba  said it was not enough . He said the announcement
   comes at a moment of "extreme weakness" for the separatists, following
   a  major  crackdown  by  Spanish  and French police. The group has not
   carried out a deadly attack in Spain since August of last year.

   The  group has been fighting a separatist campaign since the 1960s and
   in that time has killed over 800 people.

   But this is not the first time they have announced a cease-fire. Peace
   negotiations  began  in  2006  after  ETA  promised to end its violent
   tactics. But talks ended in December of the same year after ETA killed
   two people in a car bomb attack.

   Since  then  the government has said it would not negotiate unless ETA
   makes a full-fledged statement that it will lay down arms forever.

   In  Spain,  some people are optimistic this will mark the beginning of
   peace. But many have reacted cautiously.

   ETA  is  considered  a terrorist organization by the United States and
   the  European  Union.  Its  aim is to win an independent Basque nation
   made  up  of  a  northwest  region  of  Spain and three departments in
   southwest France.

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