Spanish newspaper executive murdered

Mr Oleaga worked for a press group critical of ETA

A senior Spanish newspaper executive has been shot dead in the northern city of San Sebastian.

He was hit several times in the head as he parked his car at a hospital in the El Antiguo district early on Thursday.

Police sources say the Basque separatist group ETA is suspected of carrying out the attack.

Santiago Oleaga: Gunned down after parking his car

The dead man has been named by regional officials as Santiago Oleaga, who was in his early fifties.

He was chief financial officer of the Basque newspaper El Diario Vasco, which is owned by the major Spanish news group Grupo Correo.

Newspapers in the group have been heavily critical of ETA throughout its campaign of violence, and some of its offices have previously been the target of bomb attacks.

Less than an hour after the murder, a car exploded in San Sebastian, in what police believe was the militants' destruction of their getaway car.

ETA election setback

The murder is the first to be blamed on ETA since regional elections 10 days ago, when the party closest to ETA - Euskal Herritarrok - fared badly.

Analysts believe the movement was punished by voters for failing to condemn ETA after a bitter election campaign overshadowed by violence from the separatist group.

ETA has been blamed for at least 30 deaths since calling off a 14-month ceasefire in November 1999.

The group has killed some 800 people since its formation in 1968.

It wants an independent homeland in the Basque region, which straddles the French-Spanish border.

The region already has substantial autonomy, including its own police force and complete control over schools and universities.