Basque separatist group ETA vows to disarm but seeks prisoner deal

The Basque group ETA has announced it will put its arsenal of weapons "out of operational use" in a first step by the considerably weakened separatist group towards an historic disarmament.

More than two years after announcing a "definitive end to armed activity", the gesture by western Europe's last major violent separatist movement to officially disarm have been met with shrugs in Spain, which wants it to disband without conditions.

"The process of putting the arms under seal has begun and ETA has committed itself to carry out the process down to the last weapon," read a statement published in Saturday's Basque newspaper Gara.

The group said the gesture would create a climate of "security" in the Basque region and clear the way for a solution dealing with "all the consequences of the political conflict".

ETA also called for an "urgent end of the violation of the rights of Basque political prisoners". It was referring to the imprisonment of 500 members in French and Spanish prisons. The group has long sought the transfer of these prisoners closer to home as a condition for negotiating its disbandment. The issue is a key sticking point on which Madrid refuses to budge.

Over recent months ETA members have tried to gain concessions from the Spanish government over prison conditions, outraging victims' families.