Two men were killed and four others injured when a 10 kg car bomb was detonated by remote control near San Sebastian early yesterday morning. The blast occurred shortly after 8 a.m. outside the railway station in the suburb of Martutene as commuters were arriving for work.
Police have little doubt that the bomb was the work of the Basque separatist movement ETA and that their target was Mr Ignacio Dubreil, a socialist councillor. Mr Dubreil was injured in the blast and his condition has been described as "serious".
The two dead men and three of those injured were passers-by walking from the station to their work in an electronics factory near the station. Mr Dubreil had also travelled on the train from his home in Ordizia to Martutene, where he teaches in the local school. One of those killed was a member of Euskal Herritar ok (EH), the party with close ties to ETA.
This is the first fatal attack by the separatists this year. ETA claimed 24 lives in 2000 and incidents of kale barroka (street struggle) have continued unabated with violent attacks against people and property a daily occurrence.
Earlier this week, Mr Juan Jose Ibarretxe, president of the Basque autonomous parliament, announced he would be convening regional elections for May. Mr Ibarretxe and his Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), who have 21 seats in the regional parliament, have been acting as a minority government since the 14 EH members walked out last September.
Although campaigning for the May 21st elections will not officially begin until March 26th, parties are already lining up for what threatens to be an unpleasant campaign, and it is feared that ETA could carry out more attacks to show their strength. Mr Nicolas Redondo Terreros, leader of the Basque Socialist Party (PSE) warned of the threats. "ETA is afraid of the ballot box. It hates democracy," he said.
The alleged leader of ETA, Mr Xabier Garcia Gaztelu, was arrested yesterday in Anglet, a town in southwest France, authorities said.