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Basque city tells ETA to 'disappear'
BILBAO, Spain -- Tens of thousands of people have marched through the Spanish city of Bilbao demanding the dissolution of the armed Basque separatist group ETA. Sunday's rally was convened by the Basque regional government, run by the moderate Basque Nationalist Party, which says it favours independence through peaceful means. The procession was headed by eight members of the party's youth wing, carrying a banner which read "ETA, kampora" -- Basque for "ETA, disappear." Alberto Gomez, a 48-year-old bank employee, said: "I hope this is the last time I have to demonstrate against ETA." The march was held as police in neighbouring France launched a manhunt for a suspected senior member of ETA after he escaped from custody. Ibon Fernandez Iradi escaped two days after he was arrested along with eight other suspected ETA members near Bayonne. (Story) Spain had said the arrests of five men and four women had dealt a severe blow to the separatist group, which has been fighting for an independent state in Basque areas of northern Spain and south west France since the late 1960s. Bilbao municipal police estimated the attendance at the march as 60,000 though some reports placed the figure over 120,000. All of Spain's mainstream parties in the region took part except for the Basque branch of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's Popular Party.
It said the march was a tactic by Basque President Juan Jose Ibarretxe, whom the Madrid government accuses of being soft on ETA and its now-suspended political wing, Batasuna. But demonstrators attacked the Popular Party's decision not to attend the march. "I don't understand the Popular Party's position," said Marialuisa Antxia. "The theme of this rally should bring together all democratic forces in the Basque country." Listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the U.S., ETA -- which stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom -- has killed 838 people since 1968 to press its demands for an independent state. Reuters contributed to this report.
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