ETA document shows desire to end armed struggle

Basque separatist group ETA, confirmed its commitment to abandon the armed struggle for the independence of the Basque region in northern Spain in a document published in the newspaper "Gara" on Sunday. "The ETA militancy gives overwhelming support to the strategic renovation in operation since 2009 and supports the decisions taken by the organization, among which is.. the decision to abandon the armed struggle," said the document, a supposed internal communique from the group. Gara has long been the traditional mouthpiece of the group. ETA announced a "permanent and binding" ceasefire shortly before the 2011 general election in Spain and Gara reported that 80 percent of ETA militants approve of that decision. Sunday's statement "shows the decision to abandon the armed struggle has a strategic character which goes beyond a mere strategy for negotiation," the newspaper said, in response to Spanish central government assertion that ETA's recent policy is merely one intended to improve conditions for the over 600 ETA members currently in Spanish jails. Meanwhile, Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz in an interview with the right wing newspaper ACB said that ETA has never considered its dissolution as it "wants to continue as another political agent." The minister said ETA prisoners would be submitted to current legislation. According to news reports, ETA prisoners have recently stated that they accepted the legitimacy of the Spanish legal system and admitted responsibility for their actions that led to over 800 deaths in a 45 year period.