Possible end to ETA at San Sebastian peace conference

There are hopes in Spain that Basque separatist group ETA might announce a definite end to over four decades of violence at a peace conference that begins this Monday in the city of San Sebastian. British newspaper The Guardian which cites sources in the Basque as saying that "ETA will use the conference," which will be attended by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams. ETA is currently observing a "permanent ceasefire" which it called at the start of the year. The group wants the independence of the Basque region in northern Spain and the south west of France. Its armed struggle has so far claimed 829 lives in 43 years of attacks. An announcement, if any, by ETA would come just a month before general elections in Spain on November 20 in which the right-wing People's Party (PP) is expected to oust the ruling Socialist (PSOE) party. The PP have already announced they will not attend the conference. "Adams and Annan don't have a clue about the kind of conflict that has been going on in the Basque country," its deputy spokesperson Esteban Gonzalo Pons said on Monday. The PP spokesperson in the Spanish congress Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said that presence of the PSOE at the conflict was an "insult to democracy," adding that rather than a "peace conference," what was taking place in San Sebastian was a "conference of capitulation." In the past, the PP held talks with ETA with former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar even moving some ETA prisoners to jails closer to the Basque region in the mid 1990s. The current president of the Basque region, the Socialist leader Patxi Lopez, has hinted he would be willing to do the same should the ETA dissolve. ETA has come under intense pressure by Spanish and French security forces over the last decade. The group has over 700 members in jail, with over 50 arrests having taken place since this year's ceasefire. The group is also losing political support with its political wing, Batasuna, coming to the conclusion that an end to violence is the only way to allow it to make political gains. Although Batasuna was declared illegal in 2003, the electoral coalition Bildu, whose members broadly share Batasuna's aims, showed the benefits of a political approach when it became the second most voted group in the basque country and in May's regional and local elections. "What is in play is the future of our country, and knowing that we can count on the help of important people and groups fills us with hope," said Paul Rios, of the Lokarri peace group, which is organising the conference.