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No group has yet said it
carried out the killings |
1973: Spanish prime minister
assassinated |
England have
The Spanish Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, has been
killed in a car bomb attack in Madrid.
The 70 year old, his bodyguard and a driver died instantly and four
other people were injured after a remote controlled bomb was detonated as
he passed.
A massive explosion sent the car hurtling into the air and over the
roof of the San Francisco de Borga Church where M Blanco had just been
attending mass.
The vehicle landed on the second floor terrace of a building on the
other side of the church and a great deal of damage was caused in the
area.
No one has admitted carrying out the attack.
The Spanish Government has declared three days of national mourning and
the cabinet has held two emergency meetings.
All public buildings are closed but it is not known if a state of
emergency will be declared.
Police, who did not confirm the assassination until six hours later,
said the assassins had dug a tunnel under the street the admiral used
regularly on his return from mass. Demonstrations
Police said the killers triggered the bomb from an opposite basement in
a well-planned assassination bid.
The prime minister's death came 15 minutes before the start of a trial
involving 10 of Spain's leading opponents of the Franco regime, one of
them a Roman Catholic priest.
They were arrested in a Madrid Church 18 months ago and were accused of
unlawful assembly.
Thousands of angry demonstrators have campaigned against the case and
have already clashed with police.
Commentators said the admiral's death must be seen in the context of
this controversial trial and against the backdrop of his staunch support of General Franco's regime.
Not since the Civil War, which ended in 1939, has a government minister
died in such violent circumstances.
The former naval officer, who was considered authoritarian and hated
Communism, was devoted to the Roman Catholic Church.
He has been succeeded by the vice-prime minister Fernandez Miranda,
57.