Businessman killed in Basque region

A police officer on guard yesterday in Azpeitia, Spain, near where a suspected Basque separatist killed a 71-year-old man. (Alvaro Barrientos/Associated Press)

MADRID - A suspected Basque separatist gunman firing at close range killed a businessman yesterday, two weeks after the arrest of the militant group ETA's leader, officials said.

The Basque entrepreneur was shot in the head in the Basque town of Azpeitia, near San Sebastian. Two young male attackers later fled in a car, police said.

The victim was identified as Ignacio Uria Mendizabal, 71. He worked for a construction company involved in a project to build high-speed railways in the Basque region of northern Spain.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero described him as a hardworking man who had spent decades providing jobs as he worked to develop the region.

Zapatero vowed to hunt down his killers.

ASSOCIATED PRESS