Corsica’s largest armed independence group has said it will lay down its weapons in favour of conventional political channels to further its ambitions on the French Mediterranean island. 
 
 The unexpected decision by the National Liberation Front of Corsica signals an end to almost 40 years of armed struggle for Corsican independence that began with a series of attacks in May 1976. 
 
 It also comes just a few months after Eta, the militant Basque separatist organisation, revealed in February that it had agreed to decommission some of its cache of weapons and explosives, taking a further step towards drawing a line under decades of bloody conflict in Spain. 
 
 In a communiqué issued on Wednesday evening, the FLNC said: “Without prior notification and without ambiguity, our organisation has unilaterally decided to start a demilitarisation process and a progressive exit from clandestine activities.” 
 
 It added: “The time has come for our organisation to intensify the fight in the public arena.” 
 
 Gilles Millet, a journalist at Corsica, a monthly publication that has had contact with the armed group in the past, said that the 14-page communiqué was authentic. 
 
 The group, which Mr Millet said comprised more than 100 members and whose independence cause still enjoys support among many of the island’s 320,000 residents, said that part of the reason for disarmament was several recent advances via conventional means. 
 
 In April, the local assembly approved a bill limiting land and property purchases to those who have been a Corsican resident for at least five years. The idea was to put an end to a wave of speculation-driven inflation in real estate prices on the island in recent years. 
 
 An estimated 40 per cent of properties on the island are second homes owned by non-residents. Now a popular tourist destination, Corsica was conquered by the French in the 18th century. Ajaccio, the capital, was the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. 
 
 The FLNC said on Wednesday that measures such as the property-owning restrictions “on subjects prohibited for so many years, trace the outlines of a political solution . . . we are moving from a phase of combat and resistance to a phase of the construction of a true Corsican political power”. 
 
 Thousands of attacks have been carried out in Corsica and the French mainland since the separatist movement was founded, with the FLNC claiming responsibility in many cases. 
 
 The attacks have included the murder of policemen, the bombing of banks in Paris and rocket attacks on government buildings. ||||| Story highlights Militant group will accept its identity as a French territory, the group says 
 
 The separatist group has sought independence since 1976 
 
 After nearly 40 years, a militant group on the island of Corsica says it is abandoning its armed struggle for independence from France. 
 
 The banned National Liberation Front of Corsica, also known an FLNC, said Wednesday in a statement obtained by CNN affiliate France 3 that it had made the decision with no preconditions and had started the process of demilitarization. 
 
 The birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, Corsica is located in the Tyrrehenian Sea, part of the Mediterranean, between the coasts of France and Italy. It has been under French control since the 1700s. 
 
 The island has been plagued by terrorism -- including bombings, robberies, and assaults -- since 1976, with the FLNC in the throes of a long, low-intensity military campaign against French targets on the island. 
 
 In 1997, several banks and government offices were targeted in more than 50 bomb explosions in one day, for which FLNC claimed responsibility. 
 
 France's government launched a ferocious crackdown in Corsica after a top French official there was gunned down in 1998 on the street of Ajaccio. This spurred a series of nationalist protests, followed by a string of FLNC attacks against French targets. 
 
 A branch of the separatist group announced in 2003 that it would suspend its military actions. But attacks by FLNC continued, although with less frequency.
– There is now one less armed separatist group in Europe: After nearly 40 years and thousands of attacks, including bombings and assassinations, the National Liberation Front of Corsica has decided to call it a day, CNN reports. The banned militant group, which launched its violent campaign for independence from France in 1976, says it has begun the process of demilitarization without preconditions and will pursue its goals through political channels. The group's cause still has plenty of support on the island of 320,000 people, where at least 40% of homes are second properties owned by non-residents, the Financial Times finds. The regional assembly recently restricted property purchases to those who have been residents for at least five years, and the militants say that move and similar ones show that "we are moving from a phase of combat and resistance to a phase of the construction of a true Corsican political power."