MADRID: ETA’s campaign of attacks is an “obstacle” for the Basque independence movement as a whole, separatists linked to the group’s banned political wing said yesterday, according to a document cited in El Pais. Separatists linked to ETA’s political arm, Batasuna, called for a “unifying project for the pro-independence left” aimed at creating an electoral list for regional elections to be held in Spring 2009, reported the Spanish daily. Batasuna has been outlawed in Spain since 2002 for its ties to ETA, a group it has not explicitly condemned. While the Batasuna-linked separatists cited in El Pais did not condemn ETA’s bombings, they did say its “political-military strategy” is an “obstacle” to aspirations for Basque independence. ETA is blamed for the deaths of 824 people in its campaign of bombings and shootings to carve a Basque homeland out of parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. As part of the short-term aims of their proposed project, El Pais said the separatists would like to establish a “clean” list of people who have no criminal records for candidacy in regional elections. In the past, Spain has blocked such moves. During municipal elections in 2007, Spanish courts banned two independence parties, PCTV and ANV. But promoters of the latest initiative insist they would like to form a solid base from which to resolve the conflict. Unifying Basque independence supporters from the left would allow them to consolidate “thousands of voters” who today are dispersed, they said. The ex-leader of Batasuna, Arnaldo Otegi, in August called for negotiations with the government as he left jail after serving a sentence for glorifying terrorism. Following a 2006 truce and the failure of talks in Madrid, ETA once again took up its campaign of violence and has killed seven people since December 2006. – AFP |