Eta blamed for killing of councillor

Two gunmen shot dead a local conservative councillor in the Barcelona suburb of San Adrian de Besos yesterday in an ambush immediately attributed to Eta, the Basque separatist organisation.

Two gunmen shot dead a local conservative councillor in the Barcelona suburb of San Adrian de Besos yesterday in an ambush immediately attributed to Eta, the Basque separatist organisation.

Jose Luis Ruiz Casado, 42, was leaving for work when he was shot in the head and then shot again as he fell to the pavement. The attack, the 13th terrorist killing this year, came just days after Madrid claimed virtually to have dismantled Eta's operational infrastructure with a wave of police raids in France and Spain.

Two people fled the scene in a carthat was found abandoned in flames moments later. The killers are assumed to have sought to destroy any incriminating traces before switching to another getaway vehicle. The Barcelona-registered car had been stolen a month ago.