Bomb was strapped to Mayor’s body
BARCELONA, Wednesday.
The former Mayor of Barcelona, Señor Joaquín Viola Sauret, and his wife were killed today when a bizarre explosive device apparently exploded prematurely.
Three masked men and a woman forced their way into Señor Viola’s flat in central Barcelona, strapped the bomb to his chest, and handed him a demand note for an undisclosed ransom.
The bomb blew off the head of the 64-year-old conservative politician, who was appointed by General Franco to the 17-man Advisory Council of the Realm, Spain’s top advisory body.
One of the gunmen fled from the flat with blood streaming from his face.
The attack came despite reinforced police patrols in Spain’s major cities in the face of urban guerrilla threats to step up their bombing campaign.
Spain main political parties condemned the murder as part of an extremist plot to sabotage the country’s peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
The Spanish national radio reported it had received a telephone call from a man claiming responsibility for Señor Viola’s murder on behalf of an extreme Left-wing group called the Spanish Communist Party (International).
The man said the same group was responsible for a bomb attack on a police post outside Barcelona’s model prison two days ago. — Reuter.