Venezuela prosecutor feared dead

international | miscellaneous | other press Friday November 19, 2004 11:45 by pat c

Venezuela prosecutor feared dead

A key state prosecutor may have been killed in a double explosion in his car in Venezuela, officials fear.
Police are carrying out tests on the dead driver of a jeep that blew up in a suburb of the capital Caracas.

They say the vehicle belonged to Danilo Anderson, a prosecutor investigating those involved in a 2002 coup against President Hugo Chavez.

Some senior government figures rushed to the scene, describing the incident as "terrorism".

Others said they would wait for forensic tests to show whether the badly burned body found in the car belonged to Mr Anderson.

Vendetta claims

The blasts occurred at around midnight in the Los Chaguaramos neighbourhood. One official told the AFP news agency they were bombs detonated by remote control.

Information Minister Andres Izarra said: "There were two explosions... There are elements that point to Danilo Anderson being the victim of this attack."

Mr Anderson has been investigating about 400 people who the authorities say were connected to the brief ousting of President Chavez two years ago.

The prosecutor said recently he hoped to be able to file indictments soon.

Opponents of the president have called Mr Anderson's inquiry a politically motivated vendetta against them.

Mr Chavez clearly won a referendum on his rule in August, and followed it with regional election victories that strengthened his grip on power.