[Iran Press TV] The political wing of the armed Basque separatist group ETA has announced its plans for forming a new party that opposes violence and advocates democratic measures.The Batasuna association, which was banned in 2003 by Spain after a court ruling declared proven that the party was financing ETA , announced on Saturday that the "new project" will abide by a law that bans groups that "politically support violence and activities of terrorist groups."
The new group "will reject the use of violence or the threat of its use to reach political objectives," said a text read out by the front man of the activists Rufi Etxeberria for news hounds in the northern city of Pamplona.
"The commitment of this new project to exclusively political and democratic channels should be firm and unequivocal, and not subject to variable tactics or fluctuating factors," the text added.
According to sources close to Batasuna, the group hopes that ETA will declare a permanent and verifiable ceasefire by the end of 2010.
Last month, Spanish media reported that Batasuna would introduce itself on December 10 and hoped to run in municipal elections in May 2011.
Top interior official for the autonomous Basque region, Rodolfo Ares, has expressed skepticism over Batasuna's intentions.
Ares says Batasuna should have either convinced ETA to lay down its arms or separated itself from the group, if it wanted to become legal in the first place.
In September, the ETA separatist group issued two declarations calling for an end to violence and an international mediation, both of which have been dismissed by the Spanish government as insufficient.
The group has been blamed for more than 820 deaths during a four-decade campaign for an independent Basque state in northeastern Spain and southwestern France.