ETA kills Spanish policeman

A Spanish civil guard was shot and killed Saturday in a clash with members of the Basque separatist group ETA in southwestern France.

Izvor: AP

Saturday, 01.12.2007.

15:05

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A Spanish civil guard was shot and killed Saturday in a clash with members of the Basque separatist group ETA in southwestern France. This is the first death involving the group since it abandoned a cease-fire in June, officials said, according to the AP. ETA kills Spanish policeman Another Spanish officer was seriously injured in the shootout in Cap-Breton, a resort town on the Atlantic coast, said a French police official who sought anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The officers had been conducting a routine joint anti-terrorist operation with French officers when they were shot, the two countries' interior ministries said. Spanish and French police chasing Basque separatists often conduct operations in each other's territory. The guards had been tracking ETA members and were unarmed at the time of the shooting, the Spanish daily El Pais said on its Web site. French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba were heading to the site of the attack from a ministers' meeting in Germany. Alliot-Marie firmly condemned the "odious act" in a statement and called for increased efforts to hunt the attackers. ETA seeks self-determination for the Basque minority with a view toward setting up an independent state in the Basque areas in northern Spain and southwestern France. The group declared a cease-fire in March 2006 but grew frustrated with a lack of concessions in ensuing peace talks with the Spanish government. It killed two people in a car bombing at Madrid airport in December 2006, and declared the truce formally over in June. ETA has staged several attacks since then, but there had been no fatalities or serious injuries until Saturday. ETA has killed 800 people since the late 1960s. Spain's governing Socialist Party, gathered at a rally in Madrid, asked for a minute of silence in memory of the dead guard. Mariano Rajoy, leader of the opposition, did the same at a similar rally in Madrid. The scene of the shooting (Beta)

ETA kills Spanish policeman

Another Spanish officer was seriously injured in the shootout in Cap-Breton, a resort town on the Atlantic coast, said a French police official who sought anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The officers had been conducting a routine joint anti-terrorist operation with French officers when they were shot, the two countries' interior ministries said.

Spanish and French police chasing Basque separatists often conduct operations in each other's territory. The guards had been tracking ETA members and were unarmed at the time of the shooting, the Spanish daily El Pais said on its Web site.

French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba were heading to the site of the attack from a ministers' meeting in Germany.

Alliot-Marie firmly condemned the "odious act" in a statement and called for increased efforts to hunt the attackers.

ETA seeks self-determination for the Basque minority with a view toward setting up an independent state in the Basque areas in northern Spain and southwestern France.

The group declared a cease-fire in March 2006 but grew frustrated with a lack of concessions in ensuing peace talks with the Spanish government. It killed two people in a car bombing at Madrid airport in December 2006, and declared the truce formally over in June. ETA has staged several attacks since then, but there had been no fatalities or serious injuries until Saturday.

ETA has killed 800 people since the late 1960s.

Spain's governing Socialist Party, gathered at a rally in Madrid, asked for a minute of silence in memory of the dead guard. Mariano Rajoy, leader of the opposition, did the same at a similar rally in Madrid.

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