Spain: Two policemen were killed and another was critically injured in a car-bomb explosion in the village of Sanguesa, near Pamplona, yesterday, writes Jane Walker
A fourth man, who was working nearby, received serious cuts when flying glass severed an artery in his leg, and three other passersby, including an eight-year-old child, were treated for minor cuts.
The authorities have little doubt that the attack was the work of the Basque terrorist movement, ETA, which less than two weeks ago denied rumours that it was considering calling a new ceasefire.
And it comes shortly after Spanish intelligence officers reported that they had indications a new terrorist attack was imminent. They had feared the attack would come some time during the campaign for local elections, which were held last Sunday.
The policemen were part of an itinerant team who operate in rural areas, visiting small towns and villages every few months to issue and renew national identity papers in temporary offices set up in cultural centres.
Their car had been parked in the main square for some three hours, giving the terrorists sufficient time to set the bomb, although no one has admitted seeing them actually planting their device.
Eyewitnesses say the blast occurred as the men were getting into their car and preparing to leave for the next town.
On receiving the news, the Prime Minister, Mr José Maria Aznar, cancelled plans to fly to St Petersburg for the tricentenary celebrations of the Russian city and for a European summit.
This is ETA's first fatal attack since February when gunmen murdered Joseba Pagazaurtundua, a member of the Basque Socialist Party and the local police chief in the town of Andoain, near San Sebastian. It is also the first since ETA's political wing, Batasuna, was declared illegal, also in February.
Mr Miguel Sanz, the president of Navarra, said police believed the bomb contained some 3kg of explosives. He said he had no doubt that ETA was responsible for the attack. "The terrorists act when and where they can. Sanguesa was a soft target," he said.
Mr Mariano Rajoy, the deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman, was dismissive yesterday of reports that Father Alec Reid, the priest who helped broker the IRA ceasefire, had arrived in the Basque Country to negotiate a ceasefire between ETA and the Spanish government.
Father Reid reportedly believes he can persuade the terrorists to call a ceasefire if Madrid agrees to grant greater independence to the Basques.
Mr Rajoy said: "The Spanish government has nothing to do with this man, who is a nobody here. He is trying to reach an agreement based on self-determination for the Basque people, which we would never approve."