ETA to completely disarm on Saturday

THE Basque militant group ETA has announced it will hand over all its weapons on Saturday, but warns that its enemies might still block the process.

In a letter obtained by the BBC, ETA says “after giving up all its weaponry (arms and explosives) to Basque civil society representatives [ETA] now is a disarmed organisation.”

The message, dated April 7, further warns 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 to succeed are the thousands of people gathering tomorrow in Bayonne [south-western France] supporting the disarmament.”

French and Spanish authorities have arrested hundreds of militants and seized many of the group’s weapons, putting ETA under severe pressure.

Here is the letter in English.