Spanish Govt cool after murder

Press, 5 January 1979, Page 5

Spanish Govt cool after murder

[NZPA-Reuter Madrid The Spanish Government has rejected calls for toughFer action against Basque guerrillas after the murder of the military governor of Madrid in what was seen as an attempt to force retaliation by the Spanish armed forces. The Interior Minister (Mr Rodolfo Martin Villa) appeared on television to condemn the assassination of 1 ■ Major-General Constantino ■‘Ortin Gil, who was in command of all troops stationed in the capital. Major-General Ortin Gil.' 1 who was 63. was shot down by two young gunmen out- . side his home in central Madrid and he died soon afterwards. The Basque separatist' guerrilla group, E.T.A. (Free j Basque Homeland), quickly J claimed responsibility in telephone calls to the news media. Mr Martin Villa turnedj • down demands for tougher ■anti-guerrilla measures and 1 I said the security forces were having considerable success against E.T.A. j He said attacks were directed against the military; |as guardians of the unity of Spain and added: “We have ’ ito finish with E.T.A ... be- i ; cause otherwise E.T.A. willj ! finish with us and our Recently won liberties.” j Security forces went on i full alert in Madrid after the; ; shooting and the police threw up roadblocks around lithe capital. ■ Major-General Ortin Gil ‘was the most prominent military officer killed by guer-t I rillas since the assassination j |in 1973 of the Francoist Prime Minister Admiral Luis ■ I Carrero Blanco. i E.T.A. guerrillas blew the 1 admiral’s car over a five-): storey building. i Recent attacks aimed at the military are thought to ' be part of a mounting E.T.A. I ' campaign to disrupt Spain’s transition to stable democra- i cy. | Meanwhile, Spain, whose j soldiers and missionaries converted much of the West- i |ern world to Christianity, .yesterday ceased to be an I official Roman Catholic : country. Four new agreements signed between the Vatican : and Spain abolished a 1953 concordat which stated that Catholicism was the 'couni try’s official and only relil gion. The agreements cover the Church’s legal status, its i educational rights, its role in ■ the armed forces, and its! economic position, and were expected to set a pattern for i other Catholic countries, especially in Latin America. One significant change 1 was a stipulation that religious education, in accordance with freedom of con- < science, would no longer be •'obligatory in State schools, I State financing of the Church was also revised. In- i stead of making an annual!' grant to the Church, the[< Spanish State would over a;i period of three years give it jl a part of the tax revenue. Ii