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Press, 28 February 1981, Page 8

The three consuls of Uruguay, El Salvador and Austria, kidnapped by Basque separatists on February 19, read magazines while in captivity. This photograph, one of several, was sent to the Basque news media in Spain, along with a handwritten letter from the three men.

The consuls, (from left to right), Gabriel de Biubrum, of El Salvador; Antonion Alfaro Fernandez, of Uruguay, and Hermann Diez de Sei, of Austria, said that they were being treated well and were in good health. The politi’cal-military wing of the Basque separatist organisation E.T.A. (Basque Homeland and

Liberty) abducted them from their homes in Bilbao and Pamplona. The consuls in their letter condemned all forms of violence, and said the Spanish Government should consider amnesty for Basque detainees as well as improved prison conditions. These were their own opinions, and

not the views of the countries they represented, they said. In return for the consuls’ release, the guerrillas have demanded that allegations of police and Civil Guard torture of guerrilla suspects, including a report by Amnesty International, be publicised by the Spanish News media.