Prosecutor dies after 'ETA-style' shooting

Prosecutor Luis Portero, shot in the head

MADRID, Spain -- A Spanish prosecutor has died after being critically wounded in a shooting bearing the hallmarks of the Basque separatist group ETA.

Luis Portero, head state attorney for the southern Andalucian Superior Court, was shot in the head as he entered his apartment building in the southern city of Granada at 2pm (1200 GMT).

He had been taken to a city hospital where a medical report said the 59-year-old father of four was "in a deep and irreversible coma" and described him as brain dead, a police spokeswoman said.

He died later after having been kept alive on a life support machine. Police believe the attack was carried out by three people. Two shots were fired at the attorney, one hitting him in the back of the head, she said.

Although no group immediately claimed responsibility, authorities have pointed the finger at ETA.

"Everything suggests that it was the terrorist group ETA," Justice Minister Angel Acebes told state radio.

Two hours after the shooting, a car bomb exploded on the same street, the Interior Ministry said.

The blast caused unspecified damage but no injuries, a ministry official said.

So far this year the group has claimed responsibility for killing 12 people and is blamed for one more.

Earlier on Monday, an army officer found a bomb, believed to have been planted by ETA, in his car.

The device is the third found by military personnel in the Andalucian city of Seville in as many days.

While most of its victims have been security force personnel, ETA, which stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom, has frequently attacked judicial figures as part of its 32-year campaign, which has claimed 800 lives.

The latest shooting came as Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, a survivor of an ETA car-bomb attack in 1995, was on an official visit to Italy.

He condemned the killing but vowed the government would stand firm in the battle against ETA, Spanish National Radio reported. Spanish and French police have responded to ETA's stepped-up campaign this year with the arrest of more than 30 suspected ETA members and supporters in recent weeks.

ETA wants to carve out an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwestern France.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

Two suspected ETA attacks foiled
October 8, 2000
Spanish police arrest nine ETA suspects
October 5, 2000
Thousands march against ETA violence
September 24, 2000

The Spanish Government
The Basque Country

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.