Dutch election to go ahead

Dutch officials have decided not to postpone the forthcoming general election in the wake of the murder of leading far-Right politician Pim Fortuyn.

Mr Fortuyn, 53, a flamboyant populist, died after being hit by six bullets to the chest and neck fired at pointblank range outside a radio station in Hilversum, near Amsterdam, last night. The shooting comes only nine days before the election, in which his party, List Pim Fortuyn, set up in March, was expected to take about 15 per cent of the vote.

Angry supporters of the openly gay politician, who had gained huge success with his anti-immigration policies, clashed with riot police outside the country's parliament building.

Demonstrators shouting protests against politicians who had condemned Mr Fortuyn's Right-wing views hurled metal barricades, stones and bottles at police in the capital The Hague.

They chanted obscenities as smoke billowed from cars set alight in a nearby car park, before riot police restored order. Officers used tear gas and dogs to disperse the hundreds of angry Right-wingers.

"What happened here is indescribable. I'm devastated," said prime minister Wim Kok, whose Labour party leads a ruling coalition that watched aghast as Mr Fortuyn's attacks on Islam and immigration won him popularity.

Eyewitnesses said a single gunman opened fire on Mr Fortuyn, a shaven-headed former newspaper columnist who was also an academic, as he got into a chauffeur-driven limousine. He died despite a 30- minute battle by paramedics to save him.

Police said they had arrested a 33-year-old man after four witnesses chased the gunman. There was no indication of a motive.

Mr Blair immediately cancelled a planned trip to the Netherlands. A Downing Street statement said: "We share the real sense of shock there will be in the Netherlands."

Mr Blair was due to have flown to Rotterdam for talks with Mr Kok, and was also expected to have taken part in a question and answer session at a rally on behalf of Ad Melkert, leader of the Dutch Labour Party.

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Talk about the assassination