Makes You Shake Your Head News (NRR)
The_Non
5,691 Posts
Anybody know any Basque people? Spanish strutters? Their language is unique and seemingly unrelated to all Indo-European languages (allegedly), that's kinda interesting. I highlighted the absurdity. ETA declares end to 'permanent' ceasefire in Spain, drawing criticism 41 minutes ago MADRID (AFP) - The armed Basque separatist group ETA said Tuesday it was ending a "permanent" ceasefire declared last year, accusing the Spanish government of persecuting the group instead of negotiating with it. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero immediately labelled the move a "mistake" and asked the outfit to definitively give up violence."ETA's decision goes in radically the opposite direction to the path desired by the Spanish and Basque society, the path of peace," he said in a televised address.ETA said in a statement it will as of midnight Tuesday "act on all fronts" to campaign for an independent Basque state."The Spanish government has responded to the permanent suspension of armed activities offered by ETA with arrests, torture and all sorts of hounding," it said in the statement sent to the pro-independence Basque Berria and Gara newspapers."The minimum democratic conditions are not met to continue with the process of negotiations," it said.ETA, whose four-decade campaign to achieve independence for the Basque region of Spain and southwestern France has claimed over 800 lives, announced the ceasefire in March 2006 and Zapatero indicated in June he would begin peace talks.But the Socialist government considered the ceasefire broken after ETA staged a bombing at a Madrid airport carpark on December 30 that killed two men. It was the first deadly attack by ETA since 2003.ETA has insisted that the ceasefire was still in place and stressed it did not intend to cause any deaths with the attack.[/b]Spanish police have continued to carry out arrests of suspected ETA members despite the ceasefireast.ETA's political wing, Batasuna, has been prohibited as a party since 2003 and the exclusion from local elections last month of hundreds of candidates sympathetic to the armed group further increased tensions.Zapatero, who faces a general election next year, said his government would use all the means at its disposal to protect citizens.Spain's El Pais newspaper, which has close ties to the government, reported Monday that ETA is planning an "imminent" attack, quoting police sources."It is most likely that ETA will commit a spectacular but victimless attack to show off its operational capacity and increase its capacity of intimidation and blackmail," the newspaper wrote.A massive security deployment during a military ceremony attended by King Juan Carlos on Sunday reflected the authorities' fears, it said.ETA's move may boost Spain's main opposition People's Party, which has sharply criticised Zapatero's government for pursuing talks with the group.Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy called on the government to "clarify" its policy towards ETA in the wake of the announcement."ETA must lose all hope of negotiations and know that its only destiny is defeat by the instruments of a state of law like ours," he said in a televised statement. The conservative PP and associations of ETA victims earlier this year organised large demonstrations against negotiating with the group. Zapatero had made resolving the Basque conflict a priority since coming to power in April 2004. Several Spanish governments have failed in the past to seek an end to the conflict. ETA had declared ceasefires in 1989 and then in 1999 which it then subsequently called off.
Comments
WTF did they think was gonna happen!?!?!
That is sad news...
Peace
Zeb
Gugenhiem
Calatrava Bridge
Great people, food, cider, art, architecture.
the whole concept of nation state is really a recent development and pretty arbitrary if you ask me.
this isn't all that absurd if you follow news in the Middle East at all.
Hamas and the other Palestinian factions have been maintaining a "truce" for some time now, complete with daily rocket attacks on southern Israeli towns and farms.
It's all about the fucking dollars...[/b]
really ? is there oil in basque country or something ?
didn't andorra become independent from spain a little while back ?
I said that as a kneejerk reaction to what drives every conflict about territory around the world, money and saving face. Basque country holds a lot of port territory which would be useful to Spain, just like Eritrea was useful to Ethiopia for its ports on the Red Sea before its successful secession and independence movement.