Basque militants apologize

Photo: The Canadian Press

In this file image made from video provided on Oct. 20, 2011, masked members of the Basque separatist group ETA raise their fists in unison following a news conference at an undisclosed location.

The Basque militant group ETA on Friday offered an unprecedented apology for the pain caused during its more than four decades of armed campaign for independence from Spain and France, and vowed not to return to violence.

ETA, which killed around 850 people including police, politicians and entrepreneurs, is due to announce its final dissolution early next month, ending one of Europe's last standing violent nationalist conflicts.

After nearly half a century of car bomb attacks, shootings and kidnappings, the group gave up its violent campaign in 2011. One year ago, the organization also handed over to authorities most of its remaining arsenal.

In a statement published on Friday by Basque newspapers Berria and Gara, ETA acknowledged its responsibility for the pain caused by assassinations, torture, kidnappings and people forced to leave the Basque country, in a vague reference not only to ETA's victims but also to the plight of some of its own militants.

"We want to show our respect to the dead, the injured and the victims that ETA's actions have caused," the statement said. "We really are sorry."

Spain's government, which considers ETA a terrorist organization, welcomed the organization's move but said the apology came too late.

"ETA should have sincerely and unconditionally asked for forgiveness for the damage caused a long time ago," the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a brief note.

It added that Friday's announcement was "nothing more than another consequence of the fortitude of the rule of law that has defeated ETA with the arms of democracy."

ETA's victims were also critical of the announcement because it sought the forgiveness of victims "who didn't have a direct participation in the conflict" — apparently excluding those who had been specifically targeted by ETA.