Civil Officer Killed; Basque Rebels Cited

A retired officer from Spain’s paramilitary Civil Guard died of gunshot wounds received in an attack blamed on the Basque separatist guerrilla group ETA, officials said. Alfonso Parada Ulloa, 61, was buried in the Basque capital of Vitoria--one day after being shot in the head as he was leaving his home. It was the second assassination blamed on ETA in less than a week and the ninth in the last year. ETA has killed more than 800 people in its 30-year struggle for an independent state. Top government officials, including Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, spoke vehemently against ETA violence, saying the killing must end. Parada was in a coma for 12 hours after the attack before dying early Saturday morning. As many as 35,000 people gathered in central Vitoria to stage a silent vigil, state radio reported. Just two days before the attack on Parada, Tomas Caballero, a 63-year-old town councilor in Pamplona, was gunned down while leaving his home.