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 birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, Corsica is located in the Tyrrehenian Sea, part of the Mediterranean, between the coasts of France and Italy.
– 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."