VARIOUS: Spain's Prime minister Zapatero expresses outrage at ETA shooting of two policemen

Record ID: 355876

  • Title: VARIOUS: Spain's Prime minister Zapatero expresses outrage at ETA shooting of two policemen
  • Date: 1st December 2007
  • Summary: (W3) WERDER, GERMANY (DECEMBER 1, 2007) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER MICHELE ALLIOT-MARIE SAYING: "I would like to start by expressing my condolences to my colleague after the death of the Guardia Civil policeman and I would equally like to present my condolences to his family and his colleagues. I would like to express my hopes that the colleag
  • Embargoed: 16th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAARA5GIXXP0TYS7CP9MM57NH86
  • Story Text: Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is outraged at killing of a Spanish policeman by Basque separatist group ETA.
    Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Saturday (December 1) that ETA suspects who shot and killed a Guardia Civil (policeman) in France will be arrested and brought to justice.

    "Today more than ever, terrorists must know that we are all united against them, we are all firmly engaged in defending the values and institutions that make possible our freedom. They must know that we will firmly defend our freedom against death, totalitarianism, threats, extortion or any type of intimidation. Those who committed this execrable crime will be detained and processed, " Zapatero said in a televised statement after learning of the Basque separatist group's first killing since it abandoned a ceasefire in June.
    A second Guardia Civil officer was seriously injured in the shooting in the French resort of Capbreton, 20 km (12 miles) from the southern city of Biarritz.
    The two plain-clothed officers were taking part in a surveillance operation with French police when they were shot at point blank range as they were getting into their cars around 0830 GMT, a police source told Reuters.
    Police were hunting two men and a woman who fled the scene.
    The killing was the first by ETA since it called off a 15-month-old ceasefire on June 5 -- which it had effectively already been broken by a bombing at Madrid airport last December.
    Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, attending a meeting of European interior ministers in Germany, confirmed that one of the policemen had been killed and the other seriously wounded and said they had been shot as they left a restaurant.
    French interior minister Michelle Alliot-Marie said basque separatists were trying to use France as a base for attacks. She offered her condolences to the victims' families.

    "I would like to start by expressing my condolences to my colleague after the death of the Guardia Civil policeman, and I would equally like to present my condolences to his family and his colleagues. I would like to express my hopes that the colleague who was seriously injured makes a speedy recovery," Alliot-Marie told a news conference.
    ETA has killed more than 800 people in four decades of armed struggle for independence for ancient Basque territories in northern Spain and southern France.
    Polls show most inhabitants of Spain's Basque Country, which already enjoys considerable autonomy, do not want full separation from Spain.
    Spain's ruling Socialist party said it had cancelled a political rally due to be held in Madrid later on Saturday. The Spanish government said Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had rung opposition leader Mariano Rajoy to tell him of the attack.
    French anti-terrorist investigators are to launch a formal investigation into the shooting, police said.
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