The Basque separatist group ETA plans to fully lay down its weapons by 8 April, a source close to disarmament talks has said.
As part of the agreement, ETA would provide the authorities with the location of its arms stockpiles, the source said.
"There is an initiative that has a date: April 8," the source told AFP.
Before then, "ETA will take steps to make this happen," more than 50 years after its creation in northwest Spain, the source said.
The comments confirmed a declaration by Txetx Etcheverry, an activist in Bizi, a Basque association, that the group's disarmament should be completed if possible before France's upcoming presidential election.
The first round of voting is on 23 April.
"ETA has given us the responsibility of disarming its arsenal and, on the evening of April 8, ETA will be completely disarmed," Etcheverry told the French daily Le Monde.
Also today, Inigo Urkullu, head of the Basque regional government, confirmed the possibility that ETA was ready to give up its weapons and asked both Madrid and Paris to help facilitate talks.
"The Basque government judges credible the potential of a final disarmament in the short-term," Mr Urkullu said.
"It asks... the Spanish and French governments to show ambitious vision and open direct lines of communication" in order to reach "a goal with historic importance for our society."
ETA, which is considered a terrorist group by the European Union, is seeking to negotiate its dissolution in exchange for amnesties or improved prison conditions for the roughly 400 ETA members held in Spain and France.
It declared a ceasefire in October 2011 but has refused to give up its weapons.
