Spanish Ambassador to Zimbabwe Beaten to Death

Spain’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, Jose Luis Blanco-Briones, was found bludgeoned to death and left half-naked on the northeastern outskirts of the city this morning, official sources said.

“He was killed outside Harare, but the reason for the attack is still not known,” said Jose Garcia Banon, the Spanish ambassador to Kenya.

A Zimbabwe government spokesman said the 49-year-old envoy’s body was found in the Marlborough farming area of Harare.

In Madrid, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said “there was apparently no political motivation” for the killing. Blanco Briones was named ambassador to Zimbabwe in September, 1981, the ministry said.

Manuel Sassot, director general for African affairs, will go to Harare to investigate the killing, the statement added. It did not elaborate.

The ambassador appeared to have been struck on the head with a blunt instrument, and he was discovered dressed only in his shirt, the sources said. His official car was found abandoned a short distance away.

Diplomatic sources in Harare said they understood Blanco-Briones left his official residence Sunday night to visit a Spanish family in the city.

The diplomat is survived by his wife of two years, Veronique Cousteau Blanco-Briones.