ETA Says It Will Work with Verification of The Ceasefire

The band armed Basque separatist ETA announced its intention to collaborate with the international group, ignored by the Spanish Government, which has been constituted to verify the permanent ceasefire declared by the terrorist group last January.

In a statement released by the digital editions of newspapers Berria and Gara Basque separatists, the terrorist group valued as an “important step” this week the creation of an international commission sponsored by the South African lawyer Brian Currin, Efe said.

The so-called verification commission is included in the agreement known as Guernica, in which the Basque nationalist parties and organizations that ask signed a ceasefire ETA “general, permanent and verifiable” as a step towards its demise.

In the statement, to be published in full tomorrow, insists ETA, notes Gara, in his will to continue along the same path, referring to his declaration of ceasefire.

Berria, meanwhile, said that the terrorist group in the statement recalled that as early as March 27 was willing to accept an “informal verification”, although not recognized by the Governments of Spain and France.

In a first reaction, the lehendakari (head of the Basque Government), Patxi Lopez, declined to comment on the press for not doing ETA terrorists, said, “a game that does not deserve” and reiterated that it expects “the definitive statement” when the band announced their demise.

The verification team made this week consists of Ram Manikkalingam, Senior Director of Advisory Group for Dialogue (DAG), Amsterdam, Ronnie Kasrils, direct collaborator in South Africa Nelson Mandela, Raymond Kendall, secretary general of Interpol from 1985 to 2000 , and Chris Maccabe, star of the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement in Ireland.

Joining them are Satish Nambiar, Deputy Chief of Staff of the armed forces in India who led the mission of the force protection of United Nations Organization (UNO) in the Balkans in 1992 and 1993, and the Dutch Fleur Ravensbergen will act as coordinator of the work.

The constitution of this committee was ignored by the Government of Spain and the Basque regional government, as well as the main Spanish parties, the PSOE and the PP, which call directly the dissolution of ETA.