SPAIN: Batasuna Party leader Arnaldo Otegi blames ETA for ceasefire break and the government for peace process failure

Record ID: 593286

  • Title: SPAIN: Batasuna Party leader Arnaldo Otegi blames ETA for ceasefire break and the government for peace process failure
  • Date: 6th June 2007
  • Summary: (BN13) SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN (JUNE 5, 2007) (REUTERS) LEADER OF THE BANNED SEPARATIST BATASUNA PARTY, ARNALDO OTEGI, ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM AMONG PHOTOGRAPHERS PHOTOGRAPHER PHOTOGRAPHERS AROUND BATASUNA'S OTEGI JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LEADER OF THE BANNED SEPARATIST BATASUNA PARTY, ARNALDO OTEGI, SAYING: "Breaking the ceasefire was exclusively the responsibility of ETA." NEWS CONFERENCE PANEL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LEADER OF THE BANNED SEPARATIST BATASUNA PARTY, ARNALDO OTEGI, SAYING: "However, if it's true that ETA is responsible for breaking the ceasefire, it's also true that the Spanish government and the Basque Nationalist Party are to blame for the failure and collapse of the so-called peace process." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LEADER OF THE BANNED SEPARATIST BATASUNA PARTY, ARNALDO OTEGI, SAYING: "We can't make citizens believe that everything is over because that's not true. Today an agreement is possible in this country. Today the process is possible in this country. Today, people's claim for a solution route is possible, it's necessary and it's feasible." BATASUNA'S OTEGI AND PARTY MEMBERS LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM AMONG PHOTOGRAPHERS
  • Embargoed: 21st June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1T99VODR7L6B840724E6759UJ
  • Story Text: Armed Basque separatist group ETA said on Tuesday (June 5) it will end its 15-month-old ceasefire at midnight and warned the Spanish government of new attacks "on all fronts".
    Even ETA's banned political party ally Batasuna, which was not allowed to take part in last month's regional elections, appeared to distance itself from the separatist group.
    "Breaking the ceasefire was exclusively the responsibility of ETA," Batasuna leader Arnaldo Otegi told a news conference in San Sebastian while blaming the Spanish government for the collapse of the peace process.
    "However, if it's true that ETA is responsible for breaking the ceasefire, it's also true that the Spanish government and the Basque Nationalist Party are to blame for the failure and collapse of the so-called peace process," said Otegi.
    In a communiqué sent to Basque media, the rebels said they were calling off the truce because of "arrests, tortures and every type of persecution" by the Socialist government, which tried unsuccessfully to negotiate peace last year.
    Most Basques do not want to secede from Spain, polls show, and the Basque Country already enjoys considerable autonomy.
    Otegi also said that there is still room for a solution.
    "We can't make citizens believe that everything is over because that's not true. Today an agreement is possible in this country. Today the process is possible in this country. Today, people's claim for a solution route is possible, it's necessary and it's feasible," said the left-wing leader.
    ETA, which has been fighting for independence for the Basque territories for four decades, declared a ceasefire in March 2006 and had insisted that it still held despite killing two people with a bomb at Madrid airport in December.
    The government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero started exploratory peace talks in mid-2006, but broke them off at the end of the year after the airport bomb.
    At the time, ETA said it had not meant to kill anyone and was only seeking concessions in peace talks.
    The ETA announcement, widely anticipated by state security services, could mean more attacks are imminent, analysts said.
    ETA has killed more than 800 people in four decades of armed struggle for independence.
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