MADRID: The Basque militant group ETA apologized here today for the “pain” and the “harm” that it caused during its decades-long fight for an independent state, and appealed to its victims for forgiveness.
“We have caused a lot of pain, and irreparable harm. We want to show our respect to the dead, to the wounded and to the victims of the actions of ETA. We sincerely regret it”. ETA said in a statement released in the Basque newspaper Gara.
It came just days before the expected announcement of the dissolution of ETA, which waged a nearly four-decade fight for independence that killed at least 829 people before it announced a permanent ceasefire in 2011.