Fortuyn allies targeted

Three members of Pim Fortuyn's party have been given extra police protection after investigators found their names and maps of their home towns in the car of the chief suspect in Mr Fortuyn's murder. The police have not released the names of the potential targets.

There were suggestions yesterday that the suspect, Volkert van der Graaf, may have been stalking Mr Fortuyn on the day he is alleged to have shot him dead. Investigators said they were looking at a hotel video recording made on Monday, which allegedly shows the suspect with two other people in Breda, where Mr Fortuyn was campaigning before later travelling to Hilversum where he was killed.

A prosecution spokeswoman, Saskia de Klerk, said the team would talk to witnesses to see if the suspect had been acting alone.

Mr van der Graaf, an environmental activist, has so far refused to co-operate with investigators and has hired three defence lawyers, one of whom has defended the Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan. The motive for the killing remains unclear. Mr Fortuyn had no strong policies on agriculture and was said by his supporters to have been an animal lover.