Adams begins three-day Spanish visit

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has today begun a three-day trip to Bilbao, Madrid and Barcelona to meet Basque, Spanish and Catalan political leaders.

The meetings are expected to enable Mr Adams to discuss the developing peace process in the Basque Country and share with Spanish political representatives Sinn Féin's experience of conflict resolution in Northern Ireland.

During his trip, the Sinn Féin President will meet a wide spectrum of political and business opinion.

In Bilbao he will be hosted by Batasuna, in Madrid he will be hosted by the New Economic Forum, which is a key social and economic think tank sponsored by all main political parties across the Spanish State, and in Barcelona he will be hosted by the political party ERC.

While in Barcelona Mr Adams will also receive an international award from CIEMEN, a Catalan NGO who campaign for the cultural and linguistic rights of ethnic minorities and stateless nations.

Speaking before he left, Mr Adams said: This week the Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero is expected to make a formal request to the Spanish parliament allowing him to open direct negotiations with ETA. There is also a growing demand for multi-party talks to begin between all political parties in the Basque Country and for the unbanning of Batasuna."

Mr Adams continued by saying that the purpose of his brief tour is to meet and listen to a broad range of political and civic opinion, and where possible to reflect on Sinn Féin's experience and on the lessons of the Irish peace process.

(EF/GB)