Basque Fighters Reeling From Crackdown

BILBAO, Spain - The Basque separatist group ETA is reeling from so many setbacks that some are daring to hope it may be the start of the end of decades of political violence.

When Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar recently visited the region, Maria San Gil, a Basque municipal official, welcomed him saying: "Now we feel safer and that's thanks to your anti-terrorism policy."

Aznar is convinced that "It won't be long before the killers of ETA are defeated."

Such claims have been confounded repeatedly over the years. Aznar himself survived a car bombing in 1995, the year before he was elected prime minister.

But the cautious optimism is evid1103ent this time around. It follows mass arrests, weapons seizures, cooperation from neighboring France and the banning of ETA's purported political front. Also, U.S. and European Union authorities have added ETA to their lists of terrorist organizations, undercutting its legitimacy and funding.

The relative lull in violence is seen in the numbers. Three people died in ETA attacks last year, one of the lowest tolls since university students founded the group in the 1950s to compel Spain to grant independence to the prosperous, three-province Basque Country.

Last year, Spanish police detained 187 men and women on suspicion of belonging to or collaborating with "Euskadi ta Askatasuna," or Basque Homeland and Freedom. Another 65 were arrested on the French side of the Pyrenees border, which used to be a relatively safe haven.

"The continual detentions mean that those joining are younger and lack experience," Javier Balza, the interior minister of the Basque regional government, said in his office in Vitoria, 37 miles south of Bilbao.

Aznar and many Spaniards insist independence will never happen, but even politically moderate Basques clamor for more autonomy. The Batasuna party, banned by the Supreme Court last May, won 10 percent of the regional vote in 2001.

Among the militants' demands are Basque representation at the United Nations and other international agencies, and an almost totally independent Basque court system.

"ETA has a political aspect that reflects the dissatisfaction of many Basques who don't see Spain as their country," said Francisco Letamendia, professor of political science at the University of the Basque Country.

The issue deeply divides Basques. They are conscious of their own ancient culture and distinct language, but many are uncertain about separating from Spain.

"When we get together at home, no one talks politics," said Josu Casado, 45, a department store employee.

But his brother Mikel, 41, adds: "The problem is that ETA kills those who want a Basque country within Spain."