Socialist politician shot in Basque region

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- A Socialist politician was seriously wounded by gunmen in Spain's Basque region on Saturday in an attack that bore the hallmarks of the Basque separatist group ETA, police said.

Police originally reported that Juan Maria Jauregui, former civil governor of the Basque province of Guipuzcoa, had died of his injuries, but they later said he was revived by paramedics while being taken to hospital in the Basque town of Tolosa.

Two gunmen shot Jauregui at point-blank range in a cafe, officials said.

The attack came amid an intensifying campaign of violence blamed on ETA, which has been blamed for six killings since it ended its 14-month cease-fire in December.

ETA's offensive appears aimed at forcing the Spanish government to negotiate the group's demands for Basque self-determination -- something it has rejected as non-negotiable.

ETA has been linked to about 800 killings in its 32-year fight to create a separate state carved out of northern Spain and southern France.

Jauregui was governor of the province -- a stronghold of Basque separatism -- under Spain's former Socialist government headed by Felipe Gonzalez, who was ousted by the center-right Popular Party in 1996.

The latest attack came just hours after police in the northeastern Spanish city Zaragoza arrested two suspected ETA members.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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