DATE=5/6/98 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-231794 TITLE=SPAIN / ETA (L-ONLY) BYLINE=GIL CARBAJAL DATELINE=MADRID CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: IN SPAIN, A CITY COUNCILMAN IN PAMPLONA WAS KILLED WEDNESDAY BY TWO YOUNG GUNMEN AS HE WAS PREPARING TO DRIVE TO THE TOWN HALL. GIL CARBAJAL REPORTS FROM MADRID THAT THE MURDER FOLLOWS ARRESTS SINCE LAST WEEKEND OF SIX PRESUMED MEMBERS OF THE BASQUE SEPARATIST GROUP "ETA," AND THE SEIZURE OF DOCUMENTS LISTING POSSIBLE VICTIMS, INCLUDING KING JUAN CARLOS. TEXT: AS HE WAS ACCUSTOMED TO DOING EVERY MORNING, PAMPLONA CITY COUNCILMAN TOMAS CABALLERO LOOKED UNDER HIS AUTOMOBILE, JUST IN CASE A BOMB HAD BEEN PLACED THERE. BUT ON WEDNESDAY MORNING, TWO YOUNG MEN WERE LYING IN WAIT AND SHOT HIM IN THE HEAD AS HE STARTED HIS AUTOMOBILE. MR. CABALLERO DIED JUST OVER AN HOUR LATER IN THE HOSPITAL. THE 63-YEAR-OLD RETIRED ELECTRICIAN WAS A TOWN COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNION OF NAVARRAN PEOPLE -- A CONSERVATIVE REGIONAL GROUP ALLIED TO THE "POPULAR PARTY," WHICH CONTROLS THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT. //OPT// MR. CABALLERO WAS THE THIRD COUNCILMAN TO BE KILLED BY TERRORISTS THIS YEAR ALONE. HE LEFT BEHIND A WIFE, FIVE CHILDREN AND EIGHT GRANDCHILDREN. //END OPT// AUTHORITIES BELIEVE THE BASQUE PRO-INDEPENDENCE GROUP "ETA" IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MURDER. A POPULAR BUT OUTSPOKEN POLITICIAN, MR. CABALLERO HAD SEVERAL VERBAL CLASHES WITH ETA'S POLITICAL WING, "HERRI BATASUNA," IN WHICH HE ACCUSED OF THEM OF SUPPORTING ETA'S CAMPAIGN TO KILL COUNCILMEN. JUST DAYS AGO, A JUDGE DISMISSED A DEFAMATION SUIT FILED AGAINST HIM BY MEMBERS OF THE PRO-ETA POLITICAL PARTY. SINCE SUNDAY, CIVIL GUARDS HAVE ARRESTED SIX PRESUMED MEMBERS OF ETA'S "DONASTI COMMANDO," BASED IN THE PROVINCE OF VIZCAYA. AS A RESULT OF THESE ARRESTS, SPANISH SECURITY AGENTS HAVE FOUND DOCUMENTATION DETAILING POSSIBLE FUTURE VICTIMS. BESIDES A NUMBER OF POPULAR PARTY CITY COUNCILMAN, THE LIST INCLUDED MEMBERS OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY AND THE UNION OF THE NAVARRAN PEOPLE -- AND EVEN A EMINENT BASQUE SCULPTOR, THE 90-YEAR-OLD JORGE OTEIZA. ALSO FOUND WERE PLANS TO ASSASSINATE KING JUAN CARLOS NEXT AUGUST, WHEN AN AQUARIUM IN THE CITY OF SAN SEBASTIAN IS DUE TO BE INAUGURATED. //REST OPT// AS A RESULT OF ETA'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST COUNCILMAN, ONE COUNCILWOMAN IN THE TOWN OF RENTERIA RESIGNED HER POST LAST MONTH. THE OTHER POPULAR PARTY REPRESENTATIVE IN THE COUNCIL WAS KILLED IN DECEMBER. NEXT WEEKEND, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER JOSE MARIA AZNAR IS DUE TO TRAVEL TO THE BASQUE COUNTRY TO ANNOUNCE THE POPULAR PARTY CANDIDATES FOR THE REGIONAL ELECTIONS DUE TO TAKE PLACE IN OCTOBER. BUT THE LATEST TERRORIST ATTACK INCREASES THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESSURE ON THE MEMBERS OF HIS PARTY IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY AND BELIES A RECENT COMMUNIQUE BY ETA, SAYING IT WAS READY TO FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF THE RECENT PEACE ACCORD IN NORTHERN IRELAND. (SIGNED) NEB/GC/PCF 06-May-98 1:17 PM EDT (1717 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
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