Suspected ETA rebels shoot man dead in Basque town

By Teresa Larraz and Arantza Goyoaga

MADRID (Reuters) -Two gunmen believed to be ETA Basque separatists shot dead a 71-year-old businessman in a carpark in the Basque town of Azpeitia on Wednesday, Spanish police and local authorities said.

The victim, named by authorities as Ignacio Uria, was one of the owners of construction company Altuna y Uria which is building a stretch of the high-speed train AVE long named by ETA as a target.

"Two young men jumped out of a car and fired two shots at him," a witness told radio station Cadena SER.

The police told Reuters the gunmen were in their 30s and fired three shots at Uria, one of which hit him in the head. The gunmen fled the scene in a stolen car which they later set fire to, police said.

The shooting happened a day before Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was due to visit the region to talk with Basque business people.

At a news conference, Zapatero condemned the murder and said the gunmen would be brought to justice.

"Ignacio Uria's murderers know the fate which awaits them, of spending the rest of their lives in prison," he said.

"The government wants to reiterate that ETA will never impose its violent solutions."