UPDATE - ETA separatists start laying down remaining arms

ADDS COMMENTS FROM FRENCH PM, PARIS PROSECUTOR

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA)- Basque separatist group ETA, which killed hundreds of people in a decades-long terrorist campaign for a Basque state independent of Spain and France, early Saturday reportedly started the process of handing over its remaining weapons.

At a ceremony in Bayonne, southwest France, the militants gave French police a list of 12 arms caches, according to French daily Le Figaro.

Late Friday, Txetx Etcheverry, a Basque environmentalist, told local media, “We have the political and technical responsibility for the ETA’s disarmament, and it has been done.

"The ETA has handed over its weapons to civil society. They are on French soil," he said. Etcheverry gave no other details about the purported arms transfer or the contents of the arsenal itself, saying they were "confidential."

The group made the pledge in a letter dated April 7 that was published by the BBC on Friday, confirming earlier reports.

The letter says that "after giving up all its weaponry (arms and explosives) to Basque civil society representatives [the ETA] now is a disarmed organization".

But further on it added that "the process is not completed" and "'disarmament day' is tomorrow".

"We want to warn that still the process can be attacked by the enemies of peace. The only real guarantee of success are the thousands of people gathering tomorrow in Bayonne [southwestern France] supporting disarmament."

-ETA must 'disarm and dissolve'

The Spanish government said the ETA "will get nothing" in exchange for its move. It demanded that the ETA "disarm and dissolve itself".

The ETA has been active since 1959, mostly in Spain but also in France. The group is reported to have very few members left and has not committed any known violence since it signed a cease-fire agreement in 2011.

Since the cease-fire, the terrorist group has received several major blows. Its leader was arrested in November 2016 and several important weapons caches have been seized in recent years.

Although several high-profile politicians have expressed hopes for full disarmament, the group has been known to reverse its decisions.

An indefinite cease-fire was called in 1998 but later broke down. A permanent cease-fire was called in 2006, but nine months later an ETA bomb killed two men at Madrid’s airport.

- Nearly 3.5 tons of weapons, explosives and materials

French police have found dozens of weapons and hundreds of kilograms of explosives at ETA arms dumps after the Basque separatist group abided by its promise to completely disarm on Saturday, the Paris prosecutor's office said.

"Police services went to the sites indicated (by ETA) and found, in metal containers and bags, dozens of handguns and rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, several hundred kilograms of explosives and components of explosives, several hundred detonators and timers," the prosecutor said in a statement.

"Nearly 3.5 tons of weapons, explosives and materials" have been "found" in the eight caches given by the Basque separatist organization ETA, French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement.

"The French government welcomes this operation, carried out in a calm and non-violent manner," read the statement. "This is a decisive step towards the end of Basque independence terrorism," Cazeneuve said , adding his thoughts are with "the 829 victims of ETA, and for the thousands of people injured by its terrorist actions.

"Dangerous products will be destroyed, weapons and equipment will be investigated under the judiciary authority, which will work, as always, in close collaboration with the Spanish courts to verify whether the information gathered can help resolve ongoing cases,” Cazeneuve said.

"Today's disarmament has been carried out under the sole authority of justice, as required by the rule of law and republican principles.”

"I hope that it will mark the end of five decades of violence and allow everyone, with respect for their memory and their will to progress, to open an era of lasting peace which the Basque country would never have had to be deprived of. "