Basque leader raises Eta splinter group concern

Basque hardliners could form a violent offshoot of separatist group Eta similar to the Real IRA, an Eta leader warned on Monday. The warning came a day after Eta called on international mediators to help resolve its quarrel with the Spanish government on Sunday, which Madrid snubbed.

Daniele Schirmo

Eta is blamed for 829 deaths in its campaign for Basque independence. Patxi Zabaleta, the head of the non-violent separatist group Aralar said Eta must agree to unilaterally end violence without any political benefits.

"That is what we are hoping for. But there remains the risk of a split, similar to the Real IRA," he told the newspaper El Pais.

He said he has recently met leaders of Eta’s political wing Batasuna, who he says are determined to work for the end of violence. In a video on 5 September, Eta released a video saying it was putting an end to armed violent offensives.

The government has dismissed Monday’s statement, with Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega saying it contains “nothing new”.

“Eta knows that the only thing that has any value is the definitive and complete end to violence and arms,” she added.

Batasuna has been banned since 2003 for its links with Eta, but hopes to once again be declared a legal political party in time to take part in regional elections in the Basque Country in 2011.

Documents seized in a police operation last week against Ekin, an organisation close to Eta, revealed tensions between Eta and Batasuna, El Pais said.

The group reportedly named four of the mediators for future talks: South Africans Archbishop Desmond Tutu and FW de Klerk, former Northern Ireland leader John Hume and former Irish Republic president Mary Robinson.

De Klerk's spokesman said Monday he would consider it if formally asked.
Meanwhile a cache of arms was discovered on Sunday by hunters near Uzès in southern France. Police say they have opened an anti-terrorist enquiry.

Drums filled with a number of arms as well as some chemical products. Similar caches belonging to Eta are regularly discovered in France.