Basque Rebels Shoot, Injure Hostage

Basque separatists shot a hostage twice in the head Saturday and dumped him on a country lane, hours after Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar led a demonstration of half a million Spaniards for his release.

Hope among the crowds who poured into Bilbao’s streets to appeal for the release of Miguel Angel Blanco turned to despair after officials announced--mistakenly--that he had been found dead.

People wept on the streets for the 29-year-old victim, a councilman in the Basque town of Ermua, where wails of grief poured from people standing before the town hall. The building was plastered with posters bearing Blanco’s photo and a message: “Miguel Angel Blanco, we wait for you.”

Word then came that Blanco had survived the shooting but was in a deep coma and in extremely critical condition.

The militant separatist group Basque Homeland and Freedom, or ETA, kidnapped Blanco on Thursday and threatened to execute him at 4 p.m. Saturday unless ETA prisoners were moved to prisons in the Basque region. The threat galvanized Spain.

With the government refusing to make concessions and many fearing Blanco would be killed, demonstrations and vigils were held Friday nationwide.

On Saturday, anti-ETA demonstrations broke out in Madrid, Barcelona and other cities.