A number of different organisations called the demonstration, which was marked by five minutes of silence at midday, before the beginning of the funeral for the chief prosecutor of the Andalucia region, Luis Portero. Portero, 59, died after being shot twice in the head by three gunmen in the entrance of his home in the southern city of Granada. In Madrid, the judges who make up the profession's general council gathered in silence outside their headquarters. Spanish deputies held their own ceremony outside the Congress building. The lawyers read out a statement in which they reaffirmed their confidence in the rule of law, as guaranteed by the country's judges and prosecutors. In the northern town of Bilbao, in the Basque country, about 200 people gathered before the regional council headquarters calling on ETA to give up the armed struggle.In Pamplona, near the border with France, politicians and members of the public held their ceremony in the town's main square.In Seville, southern Spain, where bomb disposal experts defused two devices hidden in the cars of army officers, 800 people gathered in front of the city hall.A rally had been called for this evening in Granada, where Monday's killing took place, starting at 8:30 pm (1830 GMT).ETA, which stands for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna --Basque Homeland and Liberty --, was founded in 1959 by a small group of Basque students who split with the moderate Basque Nationalist Party in frustration at its non-radical stance.In 32 years of armed struggle, ETA has been responsible for the deaths of more than 780 people, according to Spanish interior ministry figures – (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
