Car bomb kills Madrid policeman

ETA demands a separate Basque state

A car bomb has gone off in Madrid killing a policeman and damaging several buildings, according to Spanish officials.

A police spokesman said the device went off in front of a Justice Ministry office in the Aluche district in the south of the capital.

No-one has yet said they carried out the attack, but local police received a warning 15 minutes before the blast from an anonymous caller who said he represented the Basque separatist group, ETA.

Madrid police were apparently lured to the scene

The bomb, which injured at least 10 other people, went off at 2045 (1845 GMT) as police were trying to clear the area.

The BBC's Flora Botsford in Madrid says that it is a common ETA tactic to lure the police to the scene of a bomb after a telephone warning.

She says this tactic was apparently a success in this latest case.

The police immediately sealed off the area and searched for a possible second car bomb.

Hearing problems

Emergency service spokesman Leopoldo Herniaz said that 12 people had been slightly injured with cuts and bruises, as well as hearing problems caused by the explosion.

It has been a new savage act by ETA

Rafael Hernando
People's Party

Rafael Hernando from the ruling People's Party had no doubt that it was the work of the Basque separatists: "It has been a new savage act by ETA."

In elections held in May, the moderate Basque National Party (PNV) retained its 20-year-hold on the regional government.

Euskal Herritarrok - the political party closest to the militant separatist movement, ETA - saw its number of seats drop by half - to 7.

Ceasefire

The bombing came the day before the PNV's Juan Jose Ibarretxe was due to begin a four-year term as president of the Basque country.

More than 800 people have been killed in ETA's 33-year campaign for a separate Basque state in an area which straddles northern Spain and south-west France.

The government has refused to discuss ETA's demands while the violence continues.

The armed group has admitted carrying out 31 killings since it ended a 14-month ceasefire in December 1999.