28 September 2009 / REUTERS, MADRID
Basque separatist rebels ETA would be prepared to call a ceasefire if the Spanish government allowed a referendum on independence in the Basque Country, the group said in a communique on Sunday.
But the rebels said they did not expect a positive response to the offer published, in extract form, by Basque nationalist newspaper Gara (http://www.gara.net/). "We will keep on bearing arms so long as the enemies of Euskal Herria continue their repression and denials," said ETA, using the Basque language term for the lands traditionally inhabited by Basque speakers spanning the Pyrenees of northern Spain and southern France. Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who tried but failed to negotiate with the rebels during a ceasefire that lasted nine months in 2006, now says the only option for ETA is unilateral surrender and has vowed to jail all its members. In its communique, ETA asked the Spanish government whether it would allow a vote on independence, something which polls show a majority of Basques would favor in some form.
