It should not come as a surprise that they also remain commited to the right of the Basque people to their self determination as a nation, a right that the UN has given to all the nations in the world.
The right to self-rule (as the article calls it) belongs to the Basque, wether ETA demands it or not, wether ETA exists or not, wether France and Spain like it or not.
Here you have the note that appeared at Yahoo News:
ETA reaffirms demand for Basque self-rule
Sun May 14, 12:29 PM ET
The armed Basque group ETA has stated publicly for the first time since a ceasefire declaration in March that it still demands self-determination for the Basque Country.
"The final agreement ... must be negotiated in terms of self-determination and territoriality, for these are the keys to overcoming the conflict," two leading ETA members told the Basque daily newspaper Gara in a rare interview, published Sunday.
"Without solving these problems, it is impossible to overcome the conflict and reach a democratic solution," the newspaper quoted them as saying, without naming the pair.
With the ceasefire, "ETA has already made its principle contribution to provising an impulse for the (peace) process," the two ETA members said, adding it was now for the politicians to "fulfil their commitments."
Gara showed pictures of two ETA members wearing hoods topped off by Basque-style berets, the same garb as worn by fellow activists who announced the ceasefire on March 22.
Spanish First Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega reacted by saying that the government "does not comment on ETA statements."
Ruling Socialist Party spokesman Jose Blanco said that "what interests us is what ETA does, not what it says," and insisted Madrid would pay no political price for peace.
The ceasefire followed a 38-year struggle for an independent Basque homeland in northeastern Spain and southwestern France during which more than 800 people died.
The ceasefire statement, which did not directly address the self-determination issue, prompted a cautious response among Spaniards, given that earlier ceasefires broke down in 1989 and 1998-99.
"The time has come to honor commitments in the democratic process," the ETA members told Gara.
They also demanded amnesty for some 680 ETA members whom they consider political prisoners being held in jails in Spain and France.
Most observers say the prisoners' fate is essential to the peace process, but polls show that most Spaniards reject a prisoner amnesty.
The two ETA members also called on France to stop viewing the Basque conflict as an internal issue for Spain and to get involved in the peace process.
"What the Spanish and French governments must do is show a clear attitude to providing an exit from the conflict by means of negotiation," the pair said.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose-Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has held talks in recent weeks with other Spanish political leaders in a bid to gain support for possible peace talks with ETA in the summer.
The main conservative opposition Popular Party (PP) has criticised the government's willingness to hold out the prospect of sitting down with ETA and sees Zapatero as too ready to offer concessions in return for an end to violence.
On Sunday, Jaime Mayor Oreja, a European parliament lawmaker and chairman of the main conservative opposition Popular Party (PP) in the Basque region, dubbed the ceasefire merely a form of "political negotiation with which ETA expects to achieve self-determination."
Oreja told Catholic broadcaster Cope radio he had no faith in defence ministry reports describing the ceasefire as fully applied, a description which Zapatero last month said he subscribed to on the basis of intelligence passed to him.
Oreja warned against "false euphoria" and said ETA had not changed.
"ETA has changed nothing -- totalitarian and nationalistic organisations cannot change."
In contrast, Socialist Party parliamentary spokesman Diego Lopez Garrido urged the PP to back government moves to foster peace.
"The definitive end of the terrorist group requires a joint position and real cooperation between all political groups," he insisted.
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